Melt Me
by Perfumey
Summary: ShikaIno. They say body heat helps warm you up quicker.
1. Chapter One

Melt Me

ShikaIno

Chapter One

The weather was unusually icy. Even though it was the dead of winter, the temperature never dropped below freezing in the Land of Fire. Shikamaru, smoking his cigarette outside of the academy, wondered vaguely if the snow would canel out the classes. Sighing, he flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and watched it sizzle in a pile of muddy snow. As he shoved himself from tha wall and turned towards the door, he heard someone yelling his name. Whoever it was sounded panicky.

"Troublesome."

Turning away from the door, Shikamaru caught sight of Choji. In the distance, his red hair was free of the ponytail he had taken to wearing. His hair whipped around his face. He was in a frenzy. Shikamaru had never seen him like this.

Arching a brow and stuffing his hand deep within his pockets, Shikamaru waited for Choji to finish his run.

The chubby shinobi made it over in a huff, bending over to grip his knees. Shikamaru's frown deepened. Choji was babbling nonsense that Shikmaru, for all his genius, could not grasp.

"Something wrong, Choji?"

"It's Ino," Choji said as he rung his hands. "You know how she's been away on that mission near Yukigakure? Well, apparently there have been a lot of ice storms and blizzards in that area—"

"I'm sure Ino's fine. She's tough, for a girl," Shikamaru butted in.

Choji sighed.

"You're not listening, Shikamaru! Ino was coming home. I was talking to her on one of those weird portable phones," he practically yelled, distraught. "She was saying how the weather was really bad, way worse than it was even before the dry out. She was telling me how Yuki had her on their railway thing. Then I could hear alarms going off and her muttering about something being wrong. The line just went dead. I tried to call her back but I couldn't get an answer, so I tried getting in touch with the Yuki authorities, but all the lines are frozen up. Ino was supposed to drop in on a friend of the family to stay there until tomorrow, since the weather was so bad, but they just called to say she never showed up."

Trying to take in all of the information, Shikamaru held his forehead. Finally he said: "I thought you said the lines were frozen?"

"Over in Yuki, not here. Ino's people live just outside Yuki, which is why she's on that train."

Processing what was important from Choji's rambling, Shikamaru had to admit that his friend had a valid reason for worrying. Ino was an annoying, opinionated, entirely troublesome female, but she wasn't a thoughtless one. Had she been able to call back, she would have. Since she had not, it was suffice to say that the little idiot had landed into trouble. Yet again.

"Have you informed Lady Hokage?" Shikamaru asked.

As Choji rambled about Tsunade refusing to send anyone, Shikamaru droned him out, grumbling under his breath about the trouble Ino caused people around her. He considered telling Choji to leave Ino wherever she was; she'd likely get herself out of the mess. Besides, weren't there other people on that train? She would be fine.

His frown deepened.

Who was he kidding, he could never do that to Ino. Troublesome though she was, she was still someone he cared a great deal for; she and Choji were like breast buddies to him.

It was more likely that she _couldn't_ get herself out of the mess. The former Land of Snow, now Land of Spring, was known for advanced technology; however the if the storms were as bad as Choji lead on, the train could have taken serious damage. And what of the people she was with? Perhaps none of them were shinobi, but just average people with no survival skills. Ino could have been electrocuted while trying to save the passengers.

"—impossible to go looking for her. That's why I came to get you; I knew that if there was anyone who could save her, it would be you or Naruto, but he's nowhere in sight."

Choji had complete faith in his eyes. It made Shikamaru slightly uncomfortable. It was unnerving that Choji thought he could find Ino without any trouble, especially in the kind of weather they was talking about. Not that he couldn't do it.

Choji crossed his arms to stop some of the wind's chill.

"Shikamaru, I would go, but you're—"

"Whoa!" Shikamaru held up his hands. "I never said _I_ was going. If Tsunade has already told you—"

"It's _Ino_, Shikamaru. We can't just leave her there, hoping she'll be okay until this storm blows over. What if she freezes?"

Freezes. Blinking, Shikamaru considered the pros and cons of going after Ino. On the one hand, she was an annoying pain in the ass. Not to mention the fact that Ino could possibly be fine wherever she was. Making him go _could_ _be_ a waste of time and energy. But on the other hand, he knew he was just arguing with himself out of sheer laziness. He knew he couldn't deny Ino. Choji was right. Also, if she really was in trouble and he saved her, she'd be in his debt, which was a most appealing thought indeed.

Grumbling for a good minute about the inconvenience, Shikamaru finally gave in, knowing he had meant to go after her as soon all along.

"I'll go," he heaved a heavy breath. "You stay here. If something does happen, we don't need it to take all three of us. Just give me the coordinates."

-

-

-

Darting through snow was one of the most annoying and difficult things Shikamaru had ever encountered. It was as if he was in an ice-cold, white room and it was impossible to see anything around him clearly. Someone could sneak up on him and he would never see it coming. That fact alone made him grip the kunai in his hand tightly.

His mother had insisted on him bundling up when he'd stopped by to grab a few of the things left over from his move, which meant for the first half of the trip he'd been steaming in the heavy garments. But now, he was grateful and even considering thanking her upon return.

The area he was running through was heavily wooded. Every step he took, jumping off the tree branches, caused snow to flutter around him. It was agitating to say the least, what with the white flakes already bombarding him from the sky. It was now that he wished he would have taken his mother's advice about the goggles. But he hadn't, and now he was stuck squinting as he ran closer towards Yukigakure. He was getting near. He could see the large mountains up ahead. The snow appeared thicker the closer he came. And it was colder. He could already feel the frost bite taking place.

Shikamaru's plan was to head straight for Yuki. He knew that the train only went a third of the way from of the Village Hidden (now) in the Spring—laughable, seeing the state it was in—. So if the train only went out far enough to make it to the neighboring village, then it was feasible to say that he would likely come across the train before he got to Yuki. If, for some reason, he didn't find the train first, he would go to the village and see if he could gather a few ninja to accompany him in finding it. It was likely that Yuki did not know of its train's complications, since the lines of communication had been severed.

Coughing into his hand, Shikamaru cursed getting sick. Doing a front flip and landing himself out of the tree and into the large clearing, he sneezed. He landed.

"Shit!"

He was sunk waist deep in snow.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"_What_?"

Naruto's eyes bulged in his head. He sat in Ichiraku, sharing a meal with a very distraught Choji, and a shivering, complaining Sakura.

"Choji, are you and Shikamaru _nuts_? What do you think he's gonna accomplish with this, huh? Both of them could freeze to death! I mean _come on_, the weather's so bad that all of Konoha's missions, aside from emergencies, have been called off!"

Choji frowned and sat his chopsticks to the side, his food remaining untouched.

"Oh, and Ino's not an emergency?" he asked flatly, staring at Naruto with a blankly dangerous face.

"Naruto," Sakura scowled. She held her bowl in place as her teammate jumped to his feet and slammed his hands against the table top. When he was finished, she lifted her bowl and took a sip of her hot soup. The she went one: "What were they supposed to do? You heard him, Yukigakure's lines are down, and Tsunade refuses to let any of us go out there. Wouldn't you and Sai do the same thing if it was me?"

Naruto paused, seeming to stop and think over the question, thus causing the pink haired kunoichi to growl and smack the back of his head. She continued to curse him out as Choji sighed and felt hopeless.

First his sensei, and now possibly his two teammates.

-

-

-

The moon was coming up over the mountains. Shikamaru had finally managed to cross the mountains nearly eight hours ago. They were still within sight, should he look over his shoulder. He chose not to do so, seeing as he was having a hard enough time walking ahead of himself while looking straight ahead. At this rate, he told himself, he wouldn't get to Ino for _days_, and by then she could be frozen into a human popsicle.

Trudging through the deep, icy snow, he found that his pants, though layered they were, were soaking past the first two pair. If the time kept passing like this, he would be jerking in frozen convulsions. He sure hoped Ino had dressed in warm clothes. However, knowing her, she probably hadn't. That Ino, she always felt the need to flaunt her body. Even in snow. It irritated Shikamaru.

Perhaps he hadn't been bothered by it when they were younger; however, back then Ino had worn wrappings, now she wore none. Now it was just skin. Shikamaru still recalled the feeling he change had caused him. It had been very distracting, until he remembered that he was dealing with Bitchzilla.

The thought caused a blush to run across Shikamaru's nose. Why he blushed, he didn't know, and he frowned about it. He chose to ponder this later, perhaps _after_ he had found Ino.

A sudden gust of wind blew, knocking him back. He cursed at the air, and then began to trudge forwards yet again. He had not made it more than a yard when he caught sight of something laying out in the snow. It was a man.

Even from the fair distance, Shikamaru could see the blue tint to the man's skin. Dead. He didn't have to get close to know that.

If this guy bundled in heavy clothing at about two hundred pounds was dead, what of Ino? The question alone gave him enough strength to push through the heavy snow.

Damn it, if Ino was dead he would just...just what? He shook himself and stepped beside of the dead corpse. The frozen man looked to be the conductor of the train. He had likely been out in the snow for about six hours. Probably got out of the train to get help.

Shikamaru hoped Ino hadn't been feeling noble today. It was a horrible thought when you considered the fact of saving the other forty-some people on the train, but Shikamaru didn't care. As bad as it sounded, they could die, but not Ino…not Ino, never Ino. She and Choji meant the world to Shikamaru. He had lost Asuma and still blamed himself for it; he refused to loose Ino and have to blame himself for that also. Hell, he would sit here and freeze along with her if that's what it took not to have to blame himself for _that_.

The man croaked a horrible, frog like sound, causing Shikamaru to halt in place. Turning his head, Shikamaru glanced back at the man.

Still alive? Man, talk about being stubborn. This was good news to Shikamaru because it meant that Ino was most likely alive as well. He was trying not to get his hopes up and desperately wanted to scream.

Scream? Why would he want to do that?

"Oi," he nudged the man over onto his back, "where's the train?"

A groan came from the man as his eyes froze open.

He was dead.

Shikamaru felt doom wash over him. Swallowing the ball of worry in his throat, he turned and ran. It was hard to do because of the packed snow, but he did it. He ran, and ran, and ran until his lung felt like someone had poured ice into them. Yet he still didn't stop, and finally his foot crashed into something that hurt like hell. Metal.

If he was a religious man, Shikamaru figured he would be shouting Hail Maries or praising Buddha.

Dropping to his knees in the snow (which caused it to reach his chest), he began to dig frantically with a bare hand and kunai. Within several minutes, the door to the train he saw the train-door. Sitting back on his haunches and balancing back on his arms, Shikamaru kicked the door down and hopped inside of the side side-turned train.

The inside of the train was only slightly warmer then the outside atmosphere and that worried Shikamaru. He had hoped the train remained warm, but he now knew that was a childish wish. His right foot stepped on a window, and the glass shattered against his shoe. He knitted his brow together and went on. There had been blood on that window.

Calling out to see if anyone would answer him, Shikamaru cursed as a light bulb popped near him. The sparks sprang onto his leg. He beat them out.

"Ino!" he called out once more, growing steadily more anxious. "Ino! Oi, Ino!"

His eyes came to a halt on the bundle just up ahead, and his throat suddenly went as dry. Swallowing the saliva that seemed non-existent, he walked over and squatted down beside of the non-moving person beneath the covers and bloody coats.

"Ino?"

He held his breath and pulled back the cover from the person's face. Words froze on his tongue at the snow white face and purple lips.

"Ino!"


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Solid white and shaking. Shikamaru thought Ino must be dead, and for the first time in his life he screamed. He had to get himself under control. He sat and took deep, heavy breaths of icy air.

Ino was unmoving, and she didn't appear to be breathing. He knew she must be dead, and it made all of his breakfast fight to come up. Oh Ino. But he suddenly remembered how he had thought the conductor to be dead and was wrong. Or at least, wrong for a minute.

"Ino?" he finally managed to ask, struggling to make himself reach out and touch her cheek.

Had it been anyone else, besides Choji, he would most definitely not be acting this way. But this was his treasured, troublesome teammate. He just knew he would crash if he lost her. Shinobi weren't supposed to show emotions; however, but Shikamaru couldn't help himself when it came to those he cared for.

"Ino!" he said in a panicked rush, having worked himself up into a foreign frenzy.

A sound that was stuck between a whimper and a groan erupted from the unmoving body. When his warm hand (warmly wrapped in layers of gloves) laid onto her cheek, Ino's pale blue eyes fluttered open. Then they closed again. He doubted she had actually seen him, and it made him frown.

Her name left his lips, but the sudden, loud creaking from above caused it to be mute. Shikamaru's eyes went wide, and he took his hand away from Ino's ice-cold cheek. His eyes only stayed wide for a brief second, and then his face fell into a frown. The train was about to cave in, due to the heavy weight of the snow.

His gaze flew back in the direction he had come from. The door had slammed itself shut right after he hopped down because of gravity. Shikamaru knew this was going to be bad; the sensation of oncoming trouble washed over him.

Swallowing, he looked back down to Ino. She lay curled up in the blankets beside of his left foot. He stood from the crouching position. He knew he had to get Ino out of this death trap before they were trapped.

Also, he knew that when the storm let up and a search party was sent out, they would never find the train.

The fact that Ino would likely freeze to death (Shikamaru included) once they stepped out into the even colder outdoors made Shikamaru stop thinking and knit his brow together.

Why hadn't he thought about something like this happening? What the heck was he supposed to do? A shudder of both ice and fear itched at him as he realized they would both likely die in here or outside. Ino would more than likely die first, leaving him all alone as the last of the light in the train went out. That must have been the only source of heat—those lights, what few there were. Once they went out, it would be just as cold in here as the outdoors.

He swallowed and sudden determination, induced by sheer panic, hit him. There was no way he would just sit and watch Ino die while he also froze to death. Forget the other people; he was getting Ino out, even if it meant stripping and giving her his clothes. But of course, that would just put then in a worse off position, seeing as he would freeze half way home. So, the only choice that Shikamaru saw was to dress Ino in all the clothing he found in the train, wrap her in the blankets, and then get the hell out before something dreadful happened. He just hoped they would make it back to Konoha, and that Ino wouldn't freeze before hand.

Spinning around, he decided to act quickly. The snow outside pounded down on the top of the train. He knew it wouldn't be long before there was a cave in, a burial, leaving them in a cold, dark tomb.

Glancing down at his teammate, he dropped to his knees and began to gather her in his arms, her back to his chest. She whimpered and began to jerk, to his shock, in convolutions.

"Oh man, Ino," he gulped, "hang in there. I've got you."

With slightly shaky hands, he reached out and picked up one of the bloody jackets and began to slide Ino's arms into the sleeves. Once he had managed to get three of the jackets onto her, her jerks settled. He hoped she was okay. Panting from sudden chill (oh man, the cold was starting to get to him…not good) Shikamaru sent a rattled, warm breath threw Ino's pale blonde locks. She shivered, and he realized that the heat from his breath had stirred her. This was a good thing. At least now he knew she was all right.

Grunting with effort to grab the last of the coats, without shifting Ino too much, he felt his fingertips touch the fur collar. Curling his fingers, he began to pull it towards them. Finally he managed to do so and felt joy well up inside of him. Yes, they were going to get out of here. 

"Oi," he said into Iino's ear, "we're going to be okay, Ino, promise. Let's get this last coat on you."

She seemed to hear him, and finally came somewhat out of her froze state of shock. Trying to shift herself, she managed to drop one of her hands to his knee, but could raise it no further.

"I…I," her breathing was jumpy.

"Shh," he said against her ear, sliding the coat over her right arm, "save your energy."

She whimpered what sounded to be a sob and pressed herself against him, seeking heat. Shikamaru wasn't even sure if she knew it was _him_ that was with her.

With the last coats and blankets in place, Shikamaru tilted himself and snaked his arm under the bend of her knees. She groaned. Shikamaru worried that maybe he was putting her in pain. Frowning, he said: "I'm sorry, but you'll have to bare with me here."

Bouncing her up so that her head rested against his shoulder, Shikamaru considered going through the train to spot more blankets and clothing, but the thought dropped when more creaking came from above. Grumbling about Mother Nature (if there was one), he began to walk slowly towards the door.

He passed the light bulb that had sparked earlier. Sighing, he stepped past it, and just as he did so there was a sudden banging from up ahead. Shikamaru need not look; he already knew what had just happened. The snow, the _damned snow_ had just belted down into their source of freedom.

-

-

-

It was growing very late, nearly ten o' clock, and Naruto had grown overly worried for Shikamaru. He knew that Choji said not to rat Shikamaru, but as he walked past a group of howling dogs and snow covered trash cans, he began to find himself closer and closer to the Hokage's building. It was true that he would betray Choji's trust if he peached them out; however, the truth was, he was scared that if he didn't say something, Shikamaru and Ino were doomed.

This weather was un-survivable. Yes, alerting Tsunade was the better thing to do. Perhaps if he got Jiraiya in on this, they could persuade her to send out a search party. This had turned into an emergency as far as he was concerned, and damn it, he swore to convince The Hag of it too.

Mumbling to himself about icy weather, stupid morons, and his worries, Naruto was unaware of someone stepping up behind him. By the time the person had reached out and grabbed his shoulder, Naruto had become so immersed in his own thoughts that he squealed. Whirling around, he took hold of a small, triangle shaped shuriken and pointed it up, quickly meeting the neck of his approacher.

He was jumpy lately. He supposed it had something to do with what had happened to Gaara. Deep fear that the Akatsuki would come for him soon built itself up into a bubble. And. . .he appeared to be taking that fear and frustration out on Kakashi, who had dropped the book in his right hand and put both hands up.

"Whoa, Naruto," he said, grinning under his mask. "Put that down before you hurt someone."

"Hurt someone?" Naruto growled, suddenly moody. "What are you even doing sneaking up on people, Kakashi-sensei? Don't you know how creepy that is?"

Chuckling, Kakashi watched the boy place the shuriken back in its place. Naruto knitted his brow together and crossed his arms, his eyes squinting.

"Did you need something?" Naruto asked flatly.

Kakashi did not miss this, and frowned.

"Is something wrong, Naruto? I couldn't help notice you pacing outside of Ichiraku's. You look very troubled."

The fox-boy seemed to calm himself down, sighing and shivering slightly from the cold.

"Yeah," he said, suddenly aware that he could get his sensei's help.

Kakashi bent to pick up his book. Once he had dusted the snow from it, he looked back to Naruto.

"What is it?"

Kakashi secretly hoped the boy was just out of money. Quite frankly, he was freezing his buns off and simply wanted to get home and sit near the fire. He would have left Naruto to his lonesome, had it not been for Naruto's odd aura.

"Has something happened?" Kakashi pressed, watching Naruto's frown deepen.

Looking around, Naruto was pleased at the empty street. He uncrossed his arms.

"It's Shikamaru and Ino," he said

The Copy Ninja's brow knitted together.

"What happened?"

And so, Naruto spilled the beans, telling Kakashi everything Choji said to him and Sakura.

A solemn sound came from the older man. He asked: "He said that Shikamaru left yesterday evening?"

"Yeah," Naruto chewed the inside of his lip. "I guess if he moved fast enough and took a boat some of the way there, he might have gotten to Ino by now."

Kakashi did not look convinced.

"I highly doubt it, although he may have. Yukigakure," he continued, "is at least a two days distance from here. That means he wouldn't have gotten but half way as we speak."

"Yeah, but the train had already left Yuki, so he didn't have to go all the way."

"Hm, and just how far does the train travel outside of the village?"

"I don't know," Naruto said, sounding defeated.

Shaking his head, Kakashi ushered Naruto forward. They headed quickly to speak with Tsunade.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Freezing; Ino was as cold as ice. Shikamaru had yet to turn blue, still semi warm. The layers of clothing helped him greatly during the journey and served the purpose now.

The ship he took to cross the ocean after his quick travel had been crowded with nearly fifteen people, so body heat had kept him stewed. Shikamaru had nearly roasted himself, only beginning to feel the chill when he reached the mountains. Now, though, nearly two hours after the door had been buckled down, he sat in a, holding Ino against him. They were both wrapped beneath the blankets now, and he managed to get her to move her limbs a bit, out of fear that the joints would freeze up.

Ino was still unconscious, only vaguely aware that someone was with her. Shikamaru instructed her to wiggle her feet, stretch out her legs, and flex her arms, which she did sluggishly.

He winced as the pressure from Ino's elbow become too much for him.

"Ino," he said, keeping his voice quite (far too afraid to cause some sort of avalanche). "Can you try moving this arm?"

He gently squeezed her left bicep.

She groaned. After a few seconds, she shifted her arm. She did this clumsily, and flopped it down only a second after the attempt. It landed in a very unflattering way. Not to mention awkward.

Shikamaru's eyes widened briefly as her hand landed on his upper thigh.

"Ino," he frowned.

He got no reply and began to scoot up the wall, hoping to knock the hand away. The task managed to work, but where the hand landed was no better.

"Oh man, this is such a drag. Ino, move your hand!"

He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

Whimpering as she did so, Ino's hand came to rest on the floor beside of Shikamaru's buttock.

Well, at least it was progress, Shikamaru thought, the flush leaving him.

"That a girl," he said, shifting his slowly numbing leg.

This sitting position wasn't working at all; maybe it was working for her, but he was suffering badly.

"Oi, Ino, we need to move."

He wasn't even sure if she was listening anymore. His teeth began to chatter. He sighed and gathered her up in his arms.

Once he had her in a comfortable position, he slid up the wall (which was actually the ceiling). His legs were tingling, making it hard for him to remain balanced. Shikamaru hated the feeling of something falling asleep. Usually he would stomp his foot; however, seeing as he would more than likely drop Ino if he did so, Shikamaru groaned and bared his teeth, telling himself to deal with the annoyance. He began to slowly move forward, turning to face a narrow hallway.

If this was the dinning area, he noted, then beyond was either the seating area, kitchen, or the furnace room. If it was the furnace room, then there was hope for them yet.

His sandal snagged on a piece of metal from the window. He nearly fell over. He caught himself and walked forward. To his dismay the room beyond was the seating area.

It was dark, very dark.

Narrowing his eyes down, Shikamaru tried to keep balance and reach the space between the upturned pews. His foot thumped against something and he heard a sickening squish sound.

His eyes flew open. He realized he had just kicked a body. Wrinkling his nose, Shikamaru looked up, narrowing his eyes. What he saw made him gasp.

Bodies were everywhere. All forty, if his count was on par. Each one was piled between the pews.

Looking back over his shoulder, Shikamaru decided that this was the worst place to stay. The odor of freezing blood did wonders for his already queasy stomach. Whispering a curse, he began to turn around but suddenly thought better of it. Trying his best, he glared ahead, trying to see the next room. The door was turned up in the air, impossible to get Ino through, since she was not awake enough to hold onto his back.

Frowning deeper, he shifted Ino and turned back.

Stepping back into the other room, he heard Ino's sobbing whimper and frowned down at her. When he looked back up, he began to make his way over to the tables and what looked like a table cloth.

A light clicked on in his head, and he quickly made his way over.

**-**

**-**

**-**

Tsunade watched out the window as the snow continued pouring. The frown lines on her face deepened. She gripped the edge of the window seal.

"What was he thinking?" she asked in a deadly whisper.

Taking a deep breath, she watched the team of junin as well Naruto head quickly towards the gate. She hoped to the heavens that they would find those two and come back safely. By the time they reached Yuki, warmed up so that they wouldn't die, and gathered a search party, Tsunade knew that Shikamaru and Ino could be dead. Tsunade's grip on the window tightened, and a drop of blood dripped from her bent finger nail.

"That's not going to help anything," a deep voice said from behind.

She scowled.

"Don't tell me what's going to help my nerves, Jiraiya."

-

-

-

By the time Shikamaru laid out the table cloth, Ino opened her eyes, seeming to recognize him, but closing her eyes all too soon. He had grown slightly colder as he brought Ino over to the folded cloth. Laying her down, he remained over top of her, one arm propping him up. He used the other hand to feel for a pulse. It was weak.

Breathing a hot gust of air through his nostrils and onto Ino's forehead, Shikamaru furrowed his brow.

"Don't you die on me, you troublesome woman," he said, pushing up to sit beside of Ino.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Shikamaru tilted his hands and pressed his fingers together. He closed his eyes. 

Shikamaru's mind shifted through ideas, none seeming usable. Using a trigger bomb to blast out would never work, likely killing them. He could leave Ino here and go looking around for the furnace room, fixing ways to get her there also, but he really didn't think leaving her was a good idea. Besides, what use was a furnace if you couldn't light it? Sure, the heat would be there for a few hours, but then it would go out. Maybe it wasn't even warm anymore. After all, it had been a full day and a half now. He tossed those ideas and began focusing on what he had in front of him.

And just what did he have? He had: himself, what he was wearing, Ino, and the blankets. He also had a (now frozen) thermos hooked to his pocket and the wood from the tables. Ah yes, now he had something to work with.

The wood could be used to make a fire; however, where would the smoke go? They would smother, unless he alternated between a fire and none, airing the place out by waving around a coat. That would work for a bit. But what to do when the fires were out? He went back to the other things at hand.

The blankets, those were good, but not nearly enough, considering the temperature. But combine them with layers of clothing and you were getting warmer. Still it wasn't going to be enough. He sighed.

What was the best way to keep warm?

His mind snapped back to his the boat. All of those people. The body heat. Yes! Body heat was the most effective way to keep people warm.

They would be okay for a while, but what of them when they were out of fire wood? He supposed he could find other things once Ino woke up (because she was going to wake up for good, he told himself).

Okay, so keeping warm was down. Now food.

He had no idea how long they were going to be in here, or if they would ever get out. Hopefully Choji had told Naruto because Shikamaru knew that out of everyone, Naruto would blab. Shikamaru welcomed it. Hopefully people were on their way to find him and Ino. But Shikamaru didn't hope for much, seeing as Tsunade hadn't sent anyone for Ino. Naruto surely would talk her into it, though. So until then what was he and Ino to eat and drink? No way was he feeding off of those dead corpses. Maybe if he could find the kitchen once Ino was away. . . Surely there would be a few things in there that didn't need to be cooked. Cooking would only clog up the already thinning air.

Okay, food down. Now bathroom.

The two of them would definitely need one, so he guessed the seating area would just have to do. Nasty but effective. Done with that.

He had assessed everything to the best of his knowledge. Once Ino was awake, they would talk things through.

Coughing into his hand, Shikamaru looked down at Ino. Man was she ever pale. Ino was never this pale, and he knew it to be a bad sign. He needed to warm her up quickly. Standing, he made his way to one of the tables. It didn't take him long to hack a few pieces off and walk back to the foot of their bed.

Creating a fire proved to be harder than he had first thought, due to the lack of anything but metal beneath them. He managed to find things which helped, and eventually had a good, but small, fire.

Kneeling down at Ino's feet for a minute, he stretched his hands out and rubbed them together. He had given Ino all of his gloves. When he was done warming his hands, he turned back and crawled up to Ino. She was still out cold, her eyes fluttering but nothing more. Wetting his cracking lips, Shikamaru cursed himself for not bringing capstick. Suppressing a yawn, he wondered just how late it was. His watch had died when it was buried in the snow.

"S-s-so…c-cold," Ino suddenly stuttered, her eyes squeezing tightly shut.

He frowned down at her and reached out to feel of her cheek. She was like death itself.

"Don't you worry," he said, not knowing if she could actually hear him, "I'll get you warm somehow."

Swallowing, he studied her, as well as the layered blankets and coats. All of these layers were serving a purpose, true enough, but body heat would pass better between them if done by skin to skin contact. He knew he was way warmer than her, and if he were to just—(get naked with Ino? No, he couldn't). But he must. If he wanted her to live through this, then he would have to. Once he had her warm enough, he would put their clothes back on, he told himself. By then, maybe she would wake up.

The thought of her reaction upon waking scared the hell out of Shikamaru. He would never live the act down. But she would thank him later.

Swallowing as he began unbuttoning the vest, Shikamaru suddenly found his throat dry. From growing cold or thirst, he wasn't sure, but what he was sure of was that it was not from being nervous. Why would he be? This was just a way of survival; something that had to be done. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it at all, this he knew. But, he did find that it stirred something unwelcome from within him. Shaking himself, he sat the vest aside and pulled the sweater underneath over his head. He was now left with three remaining shirts, and he pulled off two of them.

Ino began to shiver.

Now down to the black shinobi long-sleeve top and nearly five sets of pants, he stood to his feet and began removing each pair of pants. It didn't take long before he was in his usual outfit.

Looking down at shivering Ino, he decided that it was now or never. Off came the shirt, revealing a lean upper body. Down came the pants. He was oddly reminded of a movie he had once caught Naruto watching. This image would remain to haunt him for the rest of his life. He would have to switch teams after this. Man, life sucked.

Now shivering in his boxers, Shikamaru sat down beside of Ino and looked her over. How to go about this, he wondered. Never in his life had he taken off a woman's clothes. The task wouldn't be that hard to accomplish, he realized, if she were awake. How on earth did you go about getting a limp woman down to her undies?

Unaware that his heart rate had picked up, he straddled her and began removing the coats. Shikamaru finally managed to get Ino down to her purple top. He scowled.

"Ino, you idiot," he snapped. "What are you doing wearing this way out here? Geeze."

Typical Ino, leaving Konoha in her usual skimpy clothing, no matter the weather. Well, he decided not to worry over it, seeing as the top was coming off anyhow.

Suddenly finding that he couldn't unbutton this one, he thought of pulling it over her head, but she whimpered when he raised her arms, so he opted cut through the center. It worked. Shikamaru blushed as Ino's black-lace bra revealed itself. The thing barely covered her, and he thought it was useless, seeing as you could see through it. She should either go without it, he thought, or wear one that actually covered her.

He realized he was staring and scolded himself.

Shaking his head, he moved downward and sat at her feet. His mind instantly cleared once he wasn't staring at Ino's breasts, and he took off her shoes, leaving the socks. He then began removing the thin pair of black cloth pants. Apparently, that was the only pair she had on, and he frowned. Troublesome woman. Did she _want_ to freeze? Leave it to Ino to worry more about looking fat in snow clothing.

Pulling the pants off, Shikamaru laid them aside with the rest of the garments and looked back at her. She had actually put tights on, which surprised him. However, they were only net-tights, and served little to no purpose. He chose to leave them on. She was naked enough. Anymore and he would drool.

Where did that come from, he asked himself?

Frowning, he crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder to the small fire. He knew should get her as close to it as possible. Shikamaru turned back around and crawled beside of Ino's knees. Reaching out, he took hold of her shoulder and began gathered her up. She was surprisingly light for someone who was dead weight, so to speak.

Once he placed her further down on the table cloth, he carefully lay down on his back and positioned Ino on top of him. The position made him feel awkward, but he quickly pulled the three blankets over them. Should Ino wake up, she would very likely smack the piss out of him before she understood that he stripped them.

The walls around them began to creak. Looking over Ino's shoulder, Shikamaru knitted his brow and listened. Nothing else. Relaxing again, Shikamaru lay there with Ino for nearly five silent and peaceful moments. The heat from the fire and their bodies finally began to kick in and he could tell Ino felt it too.

He jerked slightly as her leg slipped between his. Ino gave a soft moan and her eyes began to flutter. Readying himself, Shikamaru sucked in a breath and watched Ino's pastel blue eyes open. She looked down at what was beneath her hands.

"Sh-Shikamaru?" she asked in a quivering voice.

Her head rolled and she tilted her chin to look up at him. Clearly her mind was still somewhat foggy because she was not attacking.

"Am I dreaming?"

"Fraid not," he said, wary still.

"So," her voice was beginning to gain strength, "you're not part of my imagination? I'm not seeing things?"

"No."

She breathed a rattled breath, followed by a round of shaky coughs, and gripped at Shikamaru's chest when pain shot through her cold lungs. When Ino opened her eyes from the coughs, they traveled dazedly from Shikamaru's eyes, to his neck, and then shoulders. Ino looked at her hand and his chest.

"Shikamaru. . .are we. . .are we _naked_?"

He had to stop himself from laughing at the way she asked the question, and found that a chuckle slipped through.

"No, Ino," he said, knowing that he was likely treading on thin water, "we're wearing underwear."

"Under—"

Blinking, she looked back up to his face and then back to her hand.

"Why?"

It was clear to Shikamaru that she was in somewhat of a daze from her previous state. He suppressed another yawn.

"Because," he finally began, finding that he rather liked how the firelight made her glow, "I needed to get you warm. Body heat was the quickest way to go about it."

"But," she frowned, "we didn't have to be nearly nude for that, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru thought Ino sounded a lot like a mother speaking to her child. He cleared his throat and resisted the urge to shift himself. The last time he had done that, it had caused another unwelcome feeling to wash over him.

"It works faster if you use skin to skin contact. I did it for your own good."

Now that Ino's mind had cleared most of the way, her brow smoothed out. She looked far too tired to argue with him. Besides, he could tell that she knew he was right. Giving a yawn, Ino turned her head over on his chest, looking to the fire. She suddenly panicked and sat up on his lap, looking down at his confused face.

"Oh, Shikamaru," she wailed helplessly, "we're trapped here, aren't we?"

He tried his best to keep his gaze up and nodded, feeling no need to lie. Ino was a big girl, she could handle the truth.

"Oooh," she moaned, throwing herself back down and causing him to give an uff. "Oooh, we're going to die!"

Shikamaru had never heard Ino speak like that, and he was shocked to feel something wet against his bare chest. God what she must have been through before he'd gotten to her; no wonder she was in this state of hysteria.

"Ino…"


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Time had passed with little to no words shared between them, aside from Ino's story of the crash. She explained how everyone died off one by one. In the end, Ino had obviously been the last of them. Ino chocked back her tears as she told Shikamaru of her time alone, when she managed to curl herself up into a ball under the covers and coats. She had stripped what clothing she could from the bodies. The story was horrible.

When she finished, Shikamaru explained what his survival plan. Ino listened, only interrupting once. He'd told her not to worry too much about it. Ino knew what that meant, and she began to feel lost and hopeless. Yet she refused to loose composure. Crying in front of others wasn't something she was fond of, Shikamaru knew. Crying in general wasn't common with Ino.

And now, unsure of just how long they had been like this, Shikamaru lay in silence, listening to Ino's steady breathing as she dozed on top of him. He sighed, causing some of her hair to brush against his nose. Scrunching his face in a half scowl half sneeze, he rolled his head against the table cloth to make the hair leave him alone. Ino was even troublesome when she slept, he thought, then smiled.

As the smile faded, he turned to look at the still going fire. He needed to put it out for a while, he realized with sadness. Just when things were starting unthaw.

"Ino?"

He reached up and nudged her side, blushing at the softness of her skin. But what was his problem? He had touched Ino's skin before

"Oi, wake up. I have to douse the fire."

Ino groaned unhappily as Shikamaru began to shift.

"No!" she suddenly gasped, grabbing his wrist as he tried to stand. "No, you can't put it out! We'll freeze!"

"I have to," he frowned, trying to free himself from her grasp. "We'll suffocate from the smoke if I don't. Don't worry," he spoke calmly, "we'll be fine if we just stay huddled up."

She looked unsure, but laid her head back down and continued to watch him.

Shikamaru thought about leaving the fire going for a while longer, but he knew it was too risky.

"What are you going to put it out with?" Ino suddenly asked, propping her elbow up and resting her cheek in her open palm.

He thought of one way and knew she'd kill him.

"I guess," he said, after a moment of staring down at the ambers, "that I'll have to beat it out."

"What? Shikamaru, you're crazy! What if you catch yourself on fire?"

"Well at least I won't be cold."

She rolled her eyes.

"Get _real_, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked around for something to beat the fire with. There was nothing aside from the clothing he had removed from them. He supposed he could use the large mirror dangling near the wall. Ignoring Ino's questions, he made his way over and returned with it.

"Cover yourself," he said, then began beating the flame gently, trying not to shatter the glass in Ino's direction.

The fire was soon out, and it was only then that he noticed the lights had also finished going at; they were in total darkness.

Ino gasped.

"Shikamaru, start the fire again! I don't like this."

"Get over it," he snapped, not liking it himself, but knowing it had to be dealt with for now.

"Don't you tell me to _get over it_! You do something about this darkness. Right _now_!"

"Oh," he began to sit down beside of her and curl up under the covers, "and _how_ should I do that, Ino? It'll be another couple hours before I can start the fire again."

She huffed and jerked the covers towards her, turning her back to him.

"Well I don't know. Aren't _you_ supposed to be the genius?"

**-**

**-**

**-**

It was starting to get even colder. Kakashi frowned and looked to Naruto. The genin was running at an alarming speed. Kakashi smirked. Uzumaki never ceased to amaze him.

-

-

-

"I'm cold," Ino complained, flipping over to face Shikamaru. "Can you start the fire again, Shikamaru?"

"No."

He listened to her seething and sighed. Rolling his neck against his crossed arms, he winced. The cracking sound seemed to echo.

"If you're cold," he began, looking up, "then crawl back over here."

"In your _dreams_, Buddy Boy."

"Have it your way, Ino."

He frowned at Ino's sudden shuffling, calling out when the covers slipped from his body.

"Hey! Ino! What's the big idea?"

Shikamaru sat up abruptly and glared down at the lump under the covers.

"Stop hogging the covers, or else I'll leave," he snapped.

He knew that was a stupid thing to say, but honestly, he was too tired and cold to come up with one of his usual witty remarks.

Her laugher rang throughout the room. Wiping at her eyes, Ino sat up and faced Shikamaru. The covers had dropped down to reveal her chest.

"Oh that's a _good one_, Shika. Leave? Ha! Just where," she said through the laughter, "are you gonna go, Wise Guy?"

"Shut up," Shikamaru grumbled, jerking the covers from her lap.

He heard her angry growl but paid it little mind as he flopped back onto his back and wrapped the covers around him, closing his eyes with a scowl. Huffing to himself, he swiftly turned onto his side, looking to the doused fire. Nothing more was said for a while, and Shikamaru knew that Ino must be missing the covers; she'd give in soon. He hoped. He only wanted her to come back to him because of the warmth. It had nothing to do with the feeling she gave him, of that Shikamaru assured himself.

Ino began to fuss with the table cloth, slowly growing colder. They desperately needed the body heat. Maybe once they had really gotten themselves unthawed, they would dress, but until then, Shikamaru was right. Knitting her brow together, Ino flipped over to face Shikamaru. A frown washed over her ad she knitted her brow in thought. She began chewing her lip, sighed, and began to scoot over to his back. Wetting her chapped lips, she furrowed her brow deeper and shut her eyes, remaining only beside of him.

"Ino," Shikamaru suddenly said roughly, "this is stupid. _You're_ stupid."

She nearly hacked.

"_What_? What did you just _say_ to me?"

"You heard me."

He remained in his current position.

"You're _stupid_, Ino. Do you want to freeze to death before anyone has a chance to save us? Now, get over yourself and press against me."

He knew how awful it must sound for him to say such a thing. Press against him? He sounded worse than Naruto. Nevertheless, he had proven his point. Ino must have sucked most of her pride up because in just a few passing moments, she had placed her palms against his back and moved in close. He chose not to boast and simply remained scowling into the darkness, growing more irritated by the troublesome situation.

"I hate this," the young woman mumbled against him. "I can't stand you sometimes, Shikamaru, and this sucks."

"Yeah? Well you're no goddess yourself there, Ino."

Tugging the covers securely around them, he snuggled his face against the bend of his arm.

"You think I like laying with you in that get up?" he added.

She smacked his back.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me that you don't find me the least bit attractive?"

"Yes, that's what I'm telling you, Ino. Now, go to sleep."

Yet, he knew he was lying to himself and to her. As a matter of fact, he found her very attractive.

Being stuck in the train was starting to get to them.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

He wished that he had a working watch. Time seemed frozen. But then, Shikamaru thought, perhaps having a watch would only make things worse.

Shikamaru felt helpless, and he_ hated_ it. He never felt this way because he always thought many many steps ahead. This time, however, there was no room for thinking outside the box.

He sighed and glanced over.

Ino was sleeping closest to the fire. He figured that she needed it more than him; although, as time crept by, Shikamaru seemed to be just as cold as his female teammate.

Coughing, Shikamaru began to sit up. He felt a tickle as Ino's hand slipped off his shoulder. He looked down at her. Her lips weren't purple, but her skin was pale. However, it wasn't as icy as before, and for that he was grateful.

Shikamaru's brow furrowed as he watched Ino shiver. He looked to the flames. The fire needed to be put out, but Shikamaru didn't want to do that. It was steadily growing colder in the underground tomb. He'd hoped that the fire would keep it somewhat heated, but he now knew that was foolish; a fire could only do so much.

He sighed and stood, trying not to wake Ino. The smoke in the room thickened. Shikamaru coughed again. Bending down to pick the mirroe, he glanced at Ino and hoped she would sleep through the ritual this time. He hated how she begged him to stop, knowing full well that he always refused. She might convince him this time, though; Shikamaru was starting to feel as if nothing mattered anymore. This was why he hoped she'd stay asleep; as soon as she woke and told him to leave the fire burning, that's what he would do, and they would both suffocate in their sleep.

Gripping the mirror, he began to beat out the flames. Ino didn't seem to rouse, and Shikamaru was thankful. The room grew pitch black once more. He frowned and put the mirror down quietly. The smoke was whisking about in front of his face, causing his coughing to pick back up. Growling in frustration, he picked up the nearest piece of clothing and began the smoke into the seating area.

"Shikamaru?"

He frowned at her voice, remembering their last conversation. That had been _hours_ ago, but he still felt awkward about it.

"What?"

"I'm hungry," she said, sitting up and covering her chest with the blankets. "Can you hand me something?"

"Ino," he dropped the piece of clothing and began carefully walking over to her, "we need to save as much of that as we can. Do you _have_ to have something?"

Shikamaru had left Ino to go find the kitchen hours ago, and had come back with all of the canned food and vegetables he could find. The meat, he left there. So far they'd only halved a can of diced peaches. What with only nine cans of food and a handfull of baby carrots, the two of them didn't actually have a lot to spare.

"My head hurts, and my stomach's growling so loud that it woke me up."

Shikamaru sighed as he crouched down near the stack of food, picking up a kunai.

"When was the last time you ate something—before the peaches?"

He knew she had been raving about her newest diet just a week ago, so he assumed her answer would be little to nothing. If that was the case, then she definitely need the food.

"Well—" she sneezed. "I drank coffee just before I boarded the train."

"Coffee doesn't count as food," Shikamaru mumbled, picking up a can of what he figured was pineapples. It was hard to read the label in the darkness. His eyes were trained to see in the dark, but not _this_ dark. Gripping the kunai, he began opening the can. Tossing the jagged metal across the room, he caught a whiff of the contents. It was indeed pineapples. He wasn't fond of the fruit, but if he became desperate enough he'd eat it.

"You like pineapples?" he asked. He heard her giggle and wondered what she could find funny. "Well?" He sounded grumpy.

Clearing her throat, Ino reached out and took the can.

"Yeah sure, it doesn't really matter. I'd eat just about anything right now."

Saying nothing in return, Shikamaru tossed the kunai by Ino's knee, and then laid himself back on the table cloth—arms behind his head. He listened as she picked up the kunai, using it as an eating utensil, and began to slurp the pineapples. She said something about the fruit tasting old, but Shikamaru made no comment. How something that was half frozen could taste old was beyond him; weren't frozen things supposed to keep?

Trying not to wet his dry lips, Shikamaru closed his eyes and began to drift into a light sleep. Ino's voice seemed far, far away.

-

-

-

"We should rest for a while," Kakashi said. "Saita, you have the equipment?"

The taller man nodded and began to slide the large bag from his shoulders. He then bent down and pulled out the contents. Meanwhile, Naruto stood off to the side, his hand on his forehead to block the blaring sun.

The search party was no farther from Konoha since the previous night. Naruto blamed this on Kakashi, who insisted on telling him to slow down. The cold air would harm his lungs, Kakashi claimed.

Naruto huffed and dropped his hand, blue eyes casting down the cliff side. The snow had stopped. But one of the women said it would likely start back up as the day droned on. By the look of the clouds, she was right.

Naruto sighed and looked back up. His eyes fixed on a set of black sandals and traveled up, quickly meeting Kakashi's eyes. The silver haired man patted Naruto's shoulder, telling him to take a break. The squad would take off again in twenty minutes, just enough time to rest their bones and catch their breath. Naruto didn't want to stop, but Kakashi assured him that it was either rest or collapse in just a short period of time. Finally Naruto trudged over to his sleeping bag.

Once Naruto laid down, the Kakashi crossed his arms and looked over the cliff. A flurry of white dropped onto his mask.

The snow began to fall yet again.

-

-

-

Shikamaru and Ino no longer knew if it was night or day.

Coughing, Shikamaru rolled to the left. A dull throb began at his crown, and this time it wa not from his headache; the throb was from that damned hair band. Growling, as Shikamaru sat up swiftly and took hold of the tan strip. Fighting with it, he finally managed to undo his spiky pony tail. Black locks cascaded down, gracing his shoulders. He sighed contentedly as he lay back down. His head met smoothly with the blankets. No more lump.

In truth, he was surprisingly un-tired. He supposed it was because of the sleeping.

About an hour ago, Ino had slipped back into her pants and button up street jacket. Shikamaru had put his usual outfit back on, minus the vest.

It was still freezing cold in the bunk, but the two of them managed to heat up enough so that they no longer needed to cling to one another. Though Ino had promptly hooted an "amen" about this, Shikamaru was fairly sure he had caught a hint of hesitation—though he couldn't be certain. It was hard to tell these things when it came to Ino. But it wasn't as if it mattered to him anyway. Though he did have to admit that being with her was not all that bad; he kind of liked it.

But why was he flustering over this? Shikamaru supposed it was because half naked woman had been pressed on top of him in a very provocative position. Not to mention she would not stop those damned happy noises over of his warmth. He thought she was doing _that_ on purpose. Well two could play at that game. Shikamaru decided to get revenge, should they end up in a similar position later. Unnecessary effort was not his style; however he wanted to show her what it felt like to be the prey of foolish toying.

Using his foot to scratch his ankle, Shikamaru rolled onto his back and blew a piece of hair. He gazed into the darkness, wondering if snow was still falling. Hopefully it wasn't and the sun had come out. If that were the case—and Shikamaru thought it unlikely—then the snow around the train would melt. If that happened, he could get the door open, and he and Ino could get the hell over to Yukigakure and heat up before heading back to Konoha.

Ino shifted beside of him. Shikamaru paid her no mind and continued thinking. He yawned after minutes later, and decided that he really had to pee. He and Ino had been using the seating bunk; however,the bodies bother both him and Ino, so Shikamaru had found the luggage room. They were now using that room, but it was a very cramped space. And that had been another thing, he recalled— all those bags. He took most of them back to Ino and the two of them drug through. Most of the stuff was useless, but they managed to find a fur comforter. That was serving as a great way to keep warm.

Standing, Shikamaru carefully made his way towards the door, stopping to put his ear to it and listen (which proved useless). He continued walking, nearly tripping on a piece of metal.

Ino, who was slowly beginning to wake up, opened her eyes and began to feel around beside of her. The loss of his heat had not gone unnoticed. Getting to her knees in front of the fire, Ino felt for the two pieces of wood. Once found, she began to rub them together.

The flames soon burst, and Ino tossed the sticks aside. She sat facing the fire, and wrapped the blanket around her torso. Looking into the ambers, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her calves. The position was so warm and cozy that she missed the sight of Shikamaru stretching a few feet away.

Shikamaru watched the light of the flames dance on Ino's face.

"Sleep well?" he finally asked, walking over and rubbing the back of his neck.

She nodded.

"How long was I out of it, do you know?"

"No, but you needed the rest."

She huffed sarcastically.

"All we've done is sleep. Probably doesn't bother you, though, does it?"

She smiled into the fire as Shikamaru sat down beside of her, leaning back.

"Actually," he said, pouting, "I've had enough of it to last me at least a day."

She laughed against her knees, continuing to look at the flames.

"Wow," she teased, "a whole _day_? I admire your determination."

Shikamaru smirked.

Sighing, Ino opened her mouth to ask something, but instead turned to look at Shikamaru. Her mouth fell slightly open. She quickly closed it. Tilting her head somewhat, she arched a brow.

"Why don't you take a picture, Ino," he suddenly said.

She gasped and turned back to the fire. Her cheeks tinted pink.

"Why would I wanna do that, jerk?"

He said nothing, but continued to watch her. The darkness may have hid her flush, but the fire light only made it look redder. Shikamaru chuckled.

"What's so _funny_?" Ino growled, whirling around to scowl at him.

"_You_, that's what," Shikamaru retorted. "What's the matter? Can't you help yourself from drooling?"

She dropped her jaw.

"_Whatever_! You wish, Shikamaru. I just—" her scowl vanished and she awkwardly looked back to the fire. She rested her chin against her knees. "It's just that you never take your hair down."

"What did you think, it was permanently up like that?"

"Don't be sarcastic."

Ino cleared her throat as the silence stretched out between them. Chewing her lip, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"It's too quite," she said.

One of Shikamaru's brows went up. Of course it was quite, but he knew she was only trying to spark up some sort of conversation that hopefully wouldn't end in an argument.

As he leaned back, he began to hear a soft hum. Glancing from the corner of his eye, he discovered that Ino was humming. Shikamaru didn't listen to music all that much, so he wasn't sure which song it was, but it was pretty. He did not know Ino had a singing voice. He liked that.

His brown eyes flickered over the side of Ino's face. Fire light bounced over her high cheek bones. She really was beautiful. It was no wonder that she took such pride in her appearance.

"Now look who's staring," Ino said with a light laugh. "_Really_, Shikamaru, get a hold of yourself."

Unlike his female counterpart, Shikamaru didn't blush. He did flick his eyes away and back to the fire, however. He could tell she was still looking at him, and bit back a smirk. The fire was finally starting to make his face overheat, and he sighed, reluctantly turning on his back. Cold air cooled him almost instantly.

Ino shifted a bit. She looked over her shoulder at Shikamaru and copied his movements. It wasn't long before she began to feel chilled again and rolled back to face the fire, her back to Shikamaru's. She sighed in contentment as the heat soaked into her flesh.

After a few moments, Ino yawned and rolled over. Her eyes popped wide when she felt a cold nose against her own. At first, she thought to roll away. Her face heated. However, when she caught the peacefully look on Shikamaru's face, her eye softened. Before she realized what she was doing, and before Shikamaru could stop her ( his eyes shot open), Ino leaned down and gently pressed her lips against his.

Shikamaru jerked.

Finally pulling away, Ino lifted her head slightly. She looked into his wide, confused eyes.

"What. . ." Shikamaru trailed.

He knitted his brow together and looked at her. His hand did not let go of her wrist when he propped himself up.

"Ino, why did you do that?"

To her shock, he sounded pissed. When she didn't answer him, Shikamaru frowned.

Finally, Ino managed to speak.

"I. . .I really don't know," she admitted, her cheeks turning a nice crimson color. She looked down at their hands. "I'm sorry."

Her taste threatened to consume Shikamaru, and her words; her words echoed in his heads. He suddenly tore his eyes from her and stood to his feet, walking to the other side of the fire and ignoring her voice as she called out.

Leaning against the wall, Shikamaru brooded. Muttering and cursing under his breath, he damned Ino to hell in every language he knew. She was the most exasperating, bitchy, snob he'd ever met, and she delighted in playing around with his head—in more ways than one, lately. Were all women _this_ troublesome?

Yes.

Nothing but troubles, and if not for the need of women to reproduce, Shikamaru thought men would been better off without them. And Ino, she was a great example of that. So why? Why had he felt so riled by her lips? He shook himself, knowing why. He wasn't stupid, just shell shocked.

Shikamaru admitted that he thought she was attractive. He reasoned that he was very much attracted to her, when she wasn't being a bitch. And even then. Bugging Ino was amusing; Shikamaru loved setting her off on one of her tangents. He liked the way her eyes lit up. She seemed to light up the room with her temper alone. Never a dull moment when she was on a rampage, that was for sure. So yeah, perhaps he didn't hate their fights as much as he let on.

Shikamaru slowly felt himself calming down. Yet he was still edgy. The thought of Ino's lips against his flooded his mind once more, and he found himself looking across the room. His heart rate picked up when their eyes met through the flames. Ino looked so confused and guilty; it made Shikamaru ache. She really had nothing to feel guilty for. It had just been a kiss.

Ino stood. Shikamaru stared with dread as she made her way across the room. She stepped in front of him. A pink tint stained her cheeks and nose, and she looked down to the side, rocking on her heels.

"I'm sorry, Shika," she said quietly. "I really don't know why—"

Shikamaru silenced her; he hesitantly touched her cheek. Eyes going wide for a brief second, Ino jerked her head up. Shikamaru's eyes glazed, boring into Ino's.

"Shikamaru?"

Deciding to test his theory, Shikamaru cupper her chin, titling her face. Maybe that feeling had been a fluke. He'd have to see, and what better way to find out than to do it again. His heart was starting to race, and before he gave himself time to change his mind, Shikamaru slowly brought his lips down onto Ino's.

The kiss lasted no longer than a second. Shikamaru was far too busy contemplating to pay attention to Ino's heart rate, or his own for that matter.

He leaned down again, mere inches from Ino's face, and suddenly stopped. He let go of her face and looked away, causing her to stumble backward.

"Ino," he said, his voice sounding dry, "let's not do that again."

Clearing his throat, Shikamaru pushed from the wall and crossed his arms.

"We may be in here for a while, and we don't need anything—" he paused, looking for the right word. Finally he had it. "Awkward to happen between us."

When he was finshed, he walked back to their bed. Ino turned to watch him.

"If you want," he said as he began to sit down, "we can talk about all of this stuff when we're out of this mess. Hopefully that'll be soon."

"But—"

"You should get back near the fire."


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Hours had passed since the kisses. Shikamaru had fallen asleep, having said only five select words as he and Ino ate. Ino was now sitting with her knees to her chest, watching Shikamaru's chest rise and fall.

Before now, Ino's feelings toward Shikamaru were biased; he was lazy, rude, and sarcastic. Lately he loved to pick fights with her, sometimes going out of his way, and that confused Ino. She thought he had bad habits. That his face always looked bored, and that he was often so quite it bugged her; that lately he was wreckless. But Ino loved Shikamaru as a best friend.

However, at the moment, Ino's opinion was slightly altered.

Sighing, she shivered and tucked her knees tighter against her chest. The rabbit-fur comforter was warm, true enough, and yes, she was dressed in warm clothing, but without that fire, Ino felt the chill in her bones. Her eyes saw only darkness. Barely visible was the broken mirror sitting beside the fire spot. Its appearance creeped her out for some odd reason, and she shivered more. The thought of those dead bodies in the next room made Ino think of horror stories. Silly, yes, but stuck in a dark, closed in train the thought of the rising dead seemed all the more real.

Biting her lip as she furrowed her brow. She wondered what Shikamaru was thinking. Something mind boggling happened earlier, and the two of them needed discuss it soon. The act scared her. Maybe it scared Shikamaru as well, and perhaps that was why he wanted to think it through before talking. That's how it seemed to Ino.

Woman knows best, she told herself and began to lie back down.

The rough table cloth had long since stopped annoying Ino. Not having a pillow wouldn't leave her be, though, and Ino found that, tired as she was, she couldn't fall asleep because of discomfort.

"My God," she groused to herself, "_now_ I get keyed up. This sucks."

Shikamaru made a mixture of a whisper and moan, causing Ino to glance over at him after lying on her back. He rolled over to face her. Ino thought Shikamaru looked cute. She had never denied thinking Shikamaru was attractive. She wondered if she felt this attraction because she feared dying a virgin, but knew that was ridiculous. It had nothing to do with what she was experiencing, though she wished desperately that she had _something_ to blame this feeling on.

"Shikamaru, you pain in the ass, what have you done now?" she whispered, tucking her arm under her head.

Sleep took her. The two of them lay nose to nose, unknowing that a storm took place outside.

-

-

-

Naruto cursed as the wind knocked him into the rocks.

The search party trudged through the sudden wind storm for nearly five hours, and now began climbing the mountains. Day was slipping. Seeing as it was winter, the days were shortened. At this rate nightfall would approach shortly; the temperature would drop drastically.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. "How far from here is Yuki?" The wind muffled his voice.

Somehow, Kakashi heard him.

"At least another day and a half," Kakashi called back. "Let's hurry down to that cave up ahead. We should take a break from this fight with the wind."

Reluctantly, Naruto agreed.

-

-

-

Ino awoke freezing. Her body jerked violently. Her pale blue eyes fluttered open as pants of shock left her. The first thing she did was to sit up and look down at Shikamaru. He was also trembling and fighting to stay asleep. She figured his body held onto what was left of the heat better than hers, since only his teeth were chattering. 

Shikamaru's head rolled back and forth in what seemed to be irritation. His frown hopped with every chatter.

Rubbing at her arms, Ino whimpered and looked over to the fire spot. Why hadn't Shikamaru lit it?

Breaking out into harsh coughs, Ino reached down and shook Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Shikamaru!" she snapped, angry. "Wake up!"

He did so grudgingly, managing to sit up and scowl at her. But the scowl faded as the cold hit him all at once.

"Damn!" His eyes went wide. "What the hell is this? It wasn't this cold _outside_." He seemed to be staring right through Ino.

"I-I know!" Her breaths came out in jumps. "Do something about it!"

Rubbing his forearms, Shikamaru stood up shakily and stepped over Ino, kneeling beside the fire. His hands shook as he attempted to rub two stick together—he kept dropping the sticks only to curse— and then managed to light the fire.

"This is such a pain in my ass," he scowled.

He didn't bother to stand, and simply crawled over Ino. He made it half way before Ino suddenly pulled him against her shivering form, saying rather loudly into his ear that she couldn't take this anymore, for him just to kill them and put them out of this misery.

"Don't be an idiot, Ino," he said, more shocked than sarcastic. He tried to loosen her grip on his sleeves and lift himself from her body, but he couldn't seem to manage. "Everything was okay up until now. We must have slept too long. That's all. The fire will get things warmed up in a few minutes. Here," he propped up on one hand and used to other to pry one of her pale hands loose, "let me go so we can get comfortable; I don't want to squash you."

Ino knew what that meant and welcomed it. She let Shikamaru go and watched restlessly as he curled up, waiting for her to get against him. She did, and before long Shikamaru pulled Ino against him tightly. 

"Stop that!" she snapped. "You're stealing all the heat!"

"Don't be ridiculous. That's not even possible."

He burrowed his face into her neck. His teeth began to chatter more.

At the feel of his hot breath, Ino tightened her rickety grip around Shikamaru's back. Her nails dug roughly into his black shirt.

"I can't stand this! I've never been this cold."

Shikamaru growled, making the hairs on Ino's neck stand up.

"You've said that already," he said, his chin resting on her collar bone. "You think I like being this cold? Just calm down until the fire kicks in. Be thankful you're not unconscious this time."

Ino looked down at his chest, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I never have said thank you, have I?"

"What?"

"For saving me." Ino shivered, her voice quivering. "So thank you, Shikamaru."

"Tch." Shikamaru dropped his hand to her elbow, the other under her other shoulder. "Don't thank me just yet. We're still not out of here."

"No. We may not be out of here, but we're alive, and that's what matters. Just accept the thanks already!"

She felt Shikamaru smile against her neck, starting to pull back from the embrace. She didn't really want him to move, remembering the shared kissed.

"Wha—"

"You know, we probably shouldn't lay so close, Ino," Shikamaru interrupted her. His brow furrowed and he scooted away. "It wouldn't be a good idea."

Ino sighed and pulled the covers tightly around her, using her arms as a pillow and curling her legs up. She looked down to the floor and bit her lip. 

"I think it would be better if we talked about us _now_, Shika."

"Don't, Ino. You know as well as I do that no good can come of this as long as we're stuck in here. So, let's just get warm for now. It's my bet that Choji told Naruto, and we both know Naruto will sing to Tsunade. Let's just hope he talked her into sending a search party."

"And if he didn't?" Ino asked.

"Well, worse case scenario," Shikamaru began, as if reading Ino's thoughts, "Naruto shows up here on his own. Because we all know he's not too great at taking orders."

Shikamaru shifted a bit and let out a heavy breath. He continued: "But I don't really think that would actually be all that bad."

Her head jerked. She frowned. Her frown slowly softened as she began to think that perhaps Naruto showing up by himself _wouldn't_ be worse case scenario. After all, Naruto could easily dig her and Shikamaru out easily with his shadow clones. Hopefully he'd have enough sense to go to Yuki, inform reinforcements, and heat his own self up first, though, lest Naruto become stuck in here, freezing along side Shikamaru and herself. That was an unappealing thought.

"…head?"

Whether it was from their earlier experiences or just her own suspicious mind, Ino's jaw dropped at the ending to the question she hadn't actually heard.

"What was that?" she asked, shocked and somewhat pissed.

Arching a brow and propping up on his elbow, Shikamaru sighed.

"I asked if you wanted something to put under your head. You look uncomfortable."

"Oh."

Ino blushed. She was ashamed at herself for thinking Shikamaru to be such a pervert.

"Uh, yeah, that'd be a lot better than _this_." She cleared her throat and gained composure. "You should have thought about that earlier. Has your brain frozen or something?"

He frowned at her usual sarcasm. 

"You better be nice," he said, sitting up and reaching out to feel for some clothing. "Besides, you could have just as easily thought of that. _I_ didn't bring it up because I had already thought about it, actually. I'm just used to not having a pillow, seeing as I usually sleep without one anyway. I figured you were smart enough to reach and get something for yourself. You're not crippled are you, Ino?"

He heard Ino huff as he took hold of the leather jacket and began folding. Once he had the jacket folded, he handed it to Ino.

"That work for you?"

"Whatever," Ino replied, her nose in the air.

Shikamaru chuckled.

"Oi, you're moody, Ino."

She growled and whacked him with the jacket. But the pleasure of having smacked him one didn't last when Ino realized she'd have to re-fold the jacket, thus prolonging her sitting up. All she wanted to lie back and curl into a tight ball. Shaking her head and mumbling an argument under her breath, Ino fixed the "pillow" and began curling up under the covers.

Shikamaru had quieted beside of her, but Ino knew he wasn't sleeping. She could feel his eyes on her. She thought of probing him about the deeply needed talk, but changed her mind. If she pushed him too much, Shikamaru might drop the subject for good.

Did Ino want that?

She wasn't sure.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Ino whimpered as she watched Shikamaru stand and fan away the smoke. Ino began to cough and pull the cover over her face. Shikamaru didn't miss this and cursed at the smoke. The smoke was thicker than any cigarette he had touched. He wouldn't want one for months after this.

When the smoke cleared, Shikamaru sighed, awaiting Ino's usual complaining. Surprise wasn't the word when Shikamaru saw that Ino wasn't going to say anything this time. Poor girl, she must be chocking on the stuff too. Speaking of chocking, Shikamaru was oddly reminded of food, and that the two of them hadn't eaten in quite a while.

"Ino," he began as he stepped over the fire spot, trying not to trip over Ino, "are you hungry?" He heard her muffled reply and took it as a yes. "Sit up then and well eat what's left of the tomatoes." He nudged her knee as he sat down. Shikamaru sighed when Ino mumbled that she didn't like tomatoes. "Well," he made a sarcastic face, "I don't like my mom's meat loaf, but I never complain if it's the last thing we have in the house, so you'll just have to make due."

Huffing, Ino pushed the covers down.

"Fine," she sighed.

"That's a girl," he said, reaching behind him to grab the food and kunai. "I figured we could just go ahead and eat whatever's in this container, too, since it's been a while and all."

She asked him what it was but only received a shrug in return.

A few minutes later, the two of them packed away cold noodles and ripe red tomatoes. Possibly the best thing either of them had eaten in quite a while. Ino didn't complain about the tomatoes. Shikamaru, who sat by her side slurping the icy noodles, didn't really care that the noodles tasted stale, like sour ice. He could hear Ino biting into a tomato just as he finished the last of his food and sat it aside. She was licking and smacking her lips worse than Choji, and this made Shikamaru snicker.

"Gee, Ino," he began, "you _were_ hungry. Guess you won't be going on any insane diets when you get out of here, eh?"

She swallowed a bite before she spoke to him.

"Oh _please_, Shikamaru! Don't tell me you're picking now to lecture me about my eating habits?"

"I didn't say that," he said defensively, suddenly regretting having opened his mouth. "Christ, why do you always jump down my throat about stupid things?"

She huffed and took another bite.

"I do not. And if I _do_," she began, "it's only because you give me reason to."

"Heh, yeah, being a concerned friend is possibly one of the worst things a man could do, I suppose."

"Bite me, jerk."

"Tch, and get your sour taste in my mouth again?" He rubbed the back of his neck and smirked at her. "I don't think so, Ino. The noodles were bad enough. Haven't I suffered already?"

She rolled her eyes and sat the tomato aside.

"Yeah right. You're only saying that," she tossed her hair over her shoulder, "because you just don't want to admit that you liked it."

He mock huffed and paid no mind as their closeness seemed to close in.

"You really are a pain, you know that? That mouth of yours talks too much."

Ino came out of her cocky state enough to notice how close Shikamaru was. Yet she said nothing. In fact, her breath seemed to be caught in her throat. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was either unaware or had given up and didn't care.

"One of these days," Shikamaru was suddenly very aware that his head had tilted, "someone's going to shut it for you."

Suddenly, Shikamaru gave Ino a rather good example.

Ino gasped softly as Shikamaru's lips landed against hers. Like a feather. Then he pressed harder. Ino wasn't sure if she wanted to push him away, and thought definitely not as Shikamaru's hand entwined into her hair. She was surprised. However, when Shikamaru's other hand brushed above Ino's knee, the surprise melted. Ino began feeling the warmth flow into her chest when that sneaky hand met with the buttons of her pants. Two snaps later and Ino's mind was stuck between screaming for Shikamaru to hold on and fainting. She felt his tongue licking at her lower lip, and as if on impulse opened her mouth. As she had suspected, Shikamaru had a taste that was all his own. Ino briefly wondered if Shikamaru thought the same thing about her.

Her thoughts froze when Shikamaru's hand slipped under the bottom of Ino's grey jacket and rubbed her lower abdomen. His hand didn't remain long. Ino suddenly felt the pressure on her chest lighten; her jacket had been opened. But before she could react, Shikamaru pulled back from the kiss, his hands remaining in place.

Shikamaru blinked at her.

Had he not, hours ago, told Ino that the two of them needed to stop, to talk things out rationally away from this crypt; however, he seemed to have decided that the outcome would more than likely be the same whether they talked now or later

He gently removed his hand, brushing her bottom lip as he pulled his left hand back to his side, the right one following right after. The warmth fled Ino's breast.

He kept his eyes on her's. Letting out a breath, Shikamaru cleared his thought into his fist, then swallowed.

"So I guess now's a good a time as any to talk?" he trailed.

Ino nodded.

"I think that would be the smartest thing to do," she said, fiddling with the blankets around her bent legs. "So where do we start? This is kind of awkward."

He smiled back at her meekly.

"Yeah. Well, I think the best thing to do is skip the useless things and get right to the point here, Ino."

Ino was surprised that Shikamaru was taking the talk so seriously. She rubbed her arms to rid her of the goose bumps. They were not from being cold because quite frankly, Ino was very warm.

"How do you feel about me?" Shikamaru asked, his brow creasing.

Ino shifted uncomfortably.

"Why do I have to be the first to come out with that answer? Why can't you tell me just what it is you feel first?"

"Fine," he said casually. "I like you. A lot. I should think that would be clear by now."

A blush rose to her cheeks. Ino covered her mouth with her hand and looked off to the side, taking a few composing breaths. Why was this getting her so worked up?

"Shikamaru," she said shakily, "I. . .guess you're not so bad either." She could practically feel him arch a knowing brow. "Okay fine, you've got me. Are you happy now? I admit it."

"There's no use in getting steamed," he sighed and seemed to be stretching. "You're the one who wanted to discuss this so badly, remember?"

Ino bit her lip and crossed her arms. A few minutes of silence passed.

"Maybe that's enough for now," Shikamaru finally said, looking up at Ino as she squirmed.

"No—I mean," she shook her head. "What I mean is—"

"No, Ino, really," he held up a hand. "That's enough for now. Do you really want to talk about this in the dark? I know _I'd_ really rather be able to see you during this talk."

"So light the fire and we'll finish."

He knitted his brow together at her stubbornness.

"Ino, either way," he began bluntly, "we're either going to talk it out and end up not speaking with one another afterward, or laying in a pile of sweat." He heard her hack. "Be honest, do you want to fool around with dead people next door?"

He readied himself for whatever reaction he may get from the fiery kunoichi.

Ino opened her mouth to say something, but there was suddenly a loud band from over head. Both of them paused, frozen, and then jerked their heads up.

"Shit," Shikamaru hissed. "We'll end up eighteen feet underground before this is over."

He was assuming it to be heavy pressure from the snow over head. And in a sense, he wasn't far off.

A crash and boom came from ahead. Ino's eyes widened.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at another thud. He could tell that the door had just been blown in, and now someone was coming his and Ino's way. They were saved

Ino gulped and shook beside of him. Figuring that she wasn't sure if it was help or a cave in, Shikamaru torn his gaze from the darkness (which had grown silent), and placed a hand on her shoulder. Making a shushing noise, he pressed his forehead to her's, closed his eyes, and began to listen for footsteps.

"Shikamaru, Ino?"

There was a clonk, and then: "Naruto! Stop yelling, you'll upset the snow."

As Shikamaru's eyes opened, he saw that Ino was beaming. He inched back, half expecting Ino to begin squealing. Then he remembered her clothing.

"Ino!" he snapped in a whisper as he grabbed hold of her wrist when she began to rise. "Your clothes."

Poor Ino had no time to fix her undone jacket and button her pants, however, when swift footsteps ran their way; within the blink of and eye, there was Naruto, carrying a flashlight. Ino screamed and dove for the cover.

Not a good idea, Shikamaru thought. Ino's screaming would only alert whoever was with Naruto, and then they would all catch him and Ino. Well, mostly they would catch Ino, but it would be pretty damned obvious as to what the two of them had doing.

Naruto could only stare slack jawed at Shikamaru. His deep blue eyes went wide as he flung them to Ino, who was dressing. Twitching back to Shikamaru, Naruto opened his mouth.

"What—"

"Quite, you idiot!" Shikamaru was suddenly behind Naruto, clamping a hand over his mouth. He gritted his teeth and hissed. "This is bad enough with you walking in; do you think we want the whole damned horde in here?"

Kakashi's voice rang out.

Naruto snickered as Shikamaru let go of him and glared.

"Yeah," Naruto called back teasingly. "Yeah, I _found_ them alright, Kakashi-sensei."

-

-

-

Ino sniffled and sneezed into a tissue. She and the others sat around a yellow booth, each with a steaming bowl of hot soup in front of them. She felt a hand land on her shoulder and smiled up at Kakashi. No one besides Naruto had actually seen her in that state with Shikamaru, and for that she was grateful. Ino didn't think any of the others suspected anything. Her would be lover growled into his hot chocolate, glaring back as Naruto snickered and everyone looked confused. Then there was the man with his hand on her shoulder; Kakashi, Ino couldn't help but think he knew something. Needless to say, Ino was very embarrassed. What with Naruto's big mouth, all of Konoha would know that she had been caught with her shirt opened, practically sitting against Shikamaru. She would never live it down, even if Naruto didn't blab.

Yet Ino was somewhat worried for Naruto because Shikamaru didn't look like happy.

"Well," one of the men cleared his throat and downed the last of his soup in one messy gulp. "Well, well, well." He burped loudly, causing Naruto to make a face and cringe away. Looking pleased with himself, the man said, "Guess you two were starved, huh?"

"Not as much as you would think," Ino said, trying not too look disgusted by the man's manners. "Shikamaru found food in one of the bunks, so we had things to eat. They just didn't taste wonderful, is all."

Shikamaru sat down his empty mug.

"Who could eat with all those bodies in the other room?" he said. He turned his attention to Kakashi, unaware that his arm flung up to rest behind Ino as he pivoted. "Someone should get out there and bring them back to this village. The families will want to ID them and make funeral preparations. I assume someone has already been sent out, right?"

"Afraid not," Kakashi sighed. "The storm's about to pick up again, so I'm guessing Yuki will send a team out during our leave, once the storm's calmed. I wouldn't worry yourself with it, Shikamaru. The village knows what to do."

Naruto's grin broadened. It made Ino look at him and ask what the problem was. Naruto chuckled.

"Oh, nothing. Shikamaru just looks comfortable. _That's_ all I'm saying."

"What?" Shikamaru groused. He looked confused. Suddenly realizing where his arm was (and had stayed even as he had went back to eating), he casually moved it. "So?" he shrugged calmly.

Kakashi's brow went up as Naruto giggled to himself. Looking from Ino to Shikamaru—for the fifth time that evening—he coughed into his hand and stood. He announced that everyone should really get back to the rooms for rest. Most of the ninja had no problem with this whatsoever, and left. Some chose to head over to the bar for some sake, which left Naruto, Kakashi, Ino, and Shikamaru.

Scooting out of the booth and standing, Naruto announced that Kakashi would pay the bill, earning an excuse from the silver haired man. It wasn't listened to, however, as Naruto turned to Ino and Shikamaru when they began to get up from the seat. Opening his mouth in a foxy smile, he readied to say something, but Kakashi cut him off.

Tossing the money onto the table and taking Naruto by the ear, Kakashi said, "I think we should let these two rest some more. Naruto, you and I will head back to our room also, unless you would like to stand outside in the snow, that is?"

Ino bit her lips to stop herself from pocking fun at the ruin of Naruto's remark.

Ushering Naruto out the door, Kakashi turned back as if forgetting something. He told Naruto to go on without him. Chuckling and digging through his pocket, he said, "Forgot the tip" with a smile. Placing a few coins down beside of empty dishes, he turned back to the Shikamaru and Ino. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Ino, I think they've switched your room number to the floor below Chizuna and Haro. You may want to check with that before heading back," Kakashi remarked.

He was lingering. Ino watched Kakashi rock on his heels, eyeing her and Shikamaru.

"You two be careful," Kakashi said, more seriously than was necessary for a fair warning of getting back to the hotel safely. With that, he turned and exited the small restaurant.

When he was finally gone, Ino looked to Shikamaru with a pale face. She crossed her arms under her chest and looked sick.

"He knows!" she gasped. "Kakashi never pays tips! He only did that so he could tell us to 'be careful'! He knows!"

"Knows what, Ino?" Shikamaru took hold of her shoulder and ushered her towards the exit.

She looked confused. Was he about to deny what had happened between the two of them?

"Yep," he opened the door and held it, "nothing happened, right?" He gave her a long wink. They stepped outside. "See, it's not like Naruto has any real proof, should he run his mouth."

Ino smiled.

"Yeah, right. But. . .umm what if—"

"Who cares? If people want to talk, then let them. I sure won't be letting _lies_, get to me."

They stepped up to the steps of their hotel and Shikamaru took hold of the door handle, turning to look at Ino over his shoulder.

"You plan to check your room number?" he asked.

Where was he _going_ with this? And then it hit Ino. Pushing her long bangs behind her ear, she stepped up beside of him.

"No. I think I'd rather talk about things."

"Good, so would I."

Shikamaru opened the door and watched her walk in, nodding to the receptionist as he followed.

-

-

-

They sat in silence, only the ticking of the small clock hanging on the paste colored wall. The bed was rumpled. Shikamaru sat on the edge, his hands on his knees as he looked over at the corner. Ino was who he was watching. She was biting her thumb and looking around the messy floor.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "That came out all wrong."

Sighing, Shikamaru shoved up and walked over, face to face. He pressed his palm against the door, pinning Ino against the wall. Glaring down into her worried eyes, he said flatly, "I don't think this conversation has anywhere else to go."

The door creaked open as he pushed it and stepped back. Shikamaru crossed his arms and bit down on his cigarette. He watched, looking at Ino with angry eyes.

"Well? You plan to just stand there, or are you going to get out?"

Still watching her, he dug through his pocket and pulled out a silver lighter, bringing it up and lighting his cigarette. He arched both brows at her through the smoke.

Ino looked hopeless.

"Shika, I didn't mean it like that!" She knew that this was going to go no further, and hated it. Hated herself for what she had just said.

"No, I think you did. Whether or not you're willing to admit it is up to you." He took a drag and blew out the smoke. "Go find out what room they stuck you in," he said with a narrowed look. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Shikamaru!"

"Later."

He said nothing more and began to walk back over to the bed.

Ino shut the door softly behind her and began her walk towards the staircase. She was in a daze. Oh God, what had she _done_? What had made her say something so utterly untrue and foolish? _A mistake? It had all been a dumb mistake?_ Had she really just yelled that at him? _Why_?

A woman wheeling around cleaning equipment passed Ino with a concerned frown. As she paused in the middle of the hallway to watch the young woman disappear, a loud bang came from up ahead. The sound of a fist hitting a wall.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

A snow owl was perched outside of Ino's window as she lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling with red rimed eyes and glistening cheeks. The white and black spotted creature hooted cooed, and Ino could take no more. It was as if the animal was there to laugh at her with its mocking caws. Sitting up, she gripped her small yellow pillow and threw it at the window. The bird fluttered away in surprise, yet still Ino felt no peace with herself.

She wanted to blame this all on Shikamaru. But none of it was his fault. Hadn't Ino been the one that brought this on? Hadn't she been the one that kissed him as he slept? Hadn't she been the one to demand the two of them talk as soon as possible? Yes, she had been the one.

Having thought things over, Ino discovered what was right in front of her face: she cared for that lazy bum.

Maybe she had all along, only it the love started as deep friendship. When had it become more? She couldn't place the time, just knew that it was there, and staring her right in the face. Damn it. Damn him.

But she had been so _stupid_. So very stupid. You would have to be insane to look into the eyes of the very man who had just told you that he wanted to try this out, if you were up for it—that he wasn't asking for your hand, for crying out loud (You're far to troublesome for that, Ino); too look into those eyes and lie in flat out panic. Because that's what it had been, right? Yeah, she decided, that's why she had said what she had.

Ino had panicked, knowing that if she was to agree to a relationship, she and Shikamaru would be putting a lot on the line; things that could very well not be mended if harmed. Such as their friendship. If nothing else, Ino wanted to keep the friendship.

"But look what you did, stupid," she told herself out loud. "You probably won't even have _that_, now."

She sighed and shook her head. Whimpering in self pity, Ino stood up and rubbed at her arms. She looked around for a sweater. She found nothing and decided that a search for something was no use. It was dumb to go knocking on Shikamaru's door in the first place. He probably wouldn't want to see her right now, much less have another talk.

Ino rubbed at her temples and curled back up in bed. Closing her eyes, she tuned out the clock and decided Shikamaru would, hopefully, talk to her tomorrow. Or the next day.

His warning in the train had been right after all. Wasn't this just _peachy_? She was suddenly grateful this hadn't happened while they had been in the cold train.

There was suddenly a rap at the door. Ino's head jerked up. Hope foolishly welled within her as she scrambled to her feet and flung open her room door, expecting to see Shikamaru.

The door swung open, her hand still holding the doorknob, and there stood none other than the one person she had _not_ been expecting.

"N-Naruto?" She gawked first at Naruto's sleepy face, then the ridiculous hat that he was wearing. "What are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is?"

She scowled. Mostly she was angry that he wasn't the man she wanted to see. It was kind of sweet that Naruto came up to her room though. Maybe he was worried about her or something.

"Kakashi-sensei kicked me out."

Well, so much for that theory.

"What?" She furrowed her brow and shook her head. "_Why_?"

"Something about my snoring. He says I talk in my sleep and disturb him."

Naruto stopped to yawn. Finally clearing his throat, he shook himself and looked down at Ino.

"_He's_ the one who keeps groaning about some woman named Izumi, and gurgling, but does he admit it? Of course not." He crossed his arms. "So I was wondering if—"

"_Naruto_!" Ino flared. "You can't sleep in here!"

"But, Ino!" he whined. "No one else will open their door!"

"What do you expect?" she snapped, tapping her foot. "It's two o'clock in the morning!"

Growling, she decided that Naruto had taken up enough of her thinking and self pity time.

"Good-_night_, Naruto."

And so the door slammed shut.

She groused as she crawled back into bed. That Naruto, she didn't dislike him really. As a matter of fact, she had come to actually respect him. Naruto had helped her team out more than once, and he really wasn't a bad guy. Huffing a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes once more and began to drift into a troubled sleep.

Yet there it came again.

"For goodness sake, Naruto," she mumbled to herself, standing and trudging over. Growling and putting on her game face, Ino pulled open the door with determination. "I said, _no_, Fool, now go find someone else to—" She gasped.

"Well," Shikamaru said, arching a brow, "sure can't say I was expecting _that_."

Ino swallowed. Shikamaru stared into her eyes, walking in casually and shutting the door behind him with one smooth click. It wasn't necessary to say that he looked intimidating, Ino thought as she took another step back, studying him. No, it was suffice to say that he looked indomitable.

"Sh-Shikamaru."

She cleared her throat and gained back her composure.

"Wha—are you here because you want to—"

"I'm here because I have a theory that I need to conclude," he said, knitting his brow together.

Ino stepped over her futon, soon backed against the cold wall, her palms landing against it. She swallowed hard. Shikamaru silently slammed his hands on each side of the wall, enclosing Ino; she was trapped. She looked his up and down. Shikamaru obviously only slept in a pair of boxers. It was either that or he had fallen into habit because of the train incident. She blushed.

"I. . .what are you—"

Her words became muffled as Shikamaru's mouth fell roughly against hers. His right hand fell down to grasp her bicep. She opened her mouth in shock. When she did this, Shikamaru deepen the kiss.

His tongue searched her mouth. Ino gasped and jerked her hands up to his chest in surprise. When Shikamaru broke the kiss, there was a pause as he kept his mouth mere centimeters away from hers. Ino panted, staring wide eyed.

Shikamaru's brow softened, and Ino could feel him smirking just before he placed a gentle kiss on her swollen bottom lip. When he pulled back, Shikamaru chewed the inside of his lip and looked at her.

"So I was right then," he said more to himself than her. "You were lying earlier."

Ino shook her head and remained against the wall.

"Of course I was, _Stupid_!" she blurted.

Shikamaru smirked and tilted his head down. He looked at her face when she dropped it, attempting to hide the flush that rose to her cheeks.

"Oi, don't' do that" he said, stepping up to her again and taking hold of her chin.

Ino's eyes searched Shikamaru's, and he bent down, tilting her head up, and pressed his forehead against hers.

"I know you told Naruto he couldn't sleep in here," he said. "Does that mean I'm out too?"

She chuckled in more of a breath. Her breath tickled his face.

"No, _you_ can stay."

He smirked and kissed her nose.

"Good, because I wasn't going to leave anyway."

Ino bit her lip and smiled at him. Shikamaru let go of her chin and dropped his hand to the crook of her neck. He leaned back down and sucked on her bottom lip. Ino wasn't as surprised this time. Shikamaru's actions were very intimate, and Ino didn't know if she was really ready for what she guessed he wanted. Besides, they had just—pretty much—agreed that they wanted a relationship, why jump into bed so early?

"Oh," she gasped as his lips landed on her neck. His hand rested on her arm. "Ahh! W-wait a second!"

His hand stopped mid grope.

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, looking up.

"I'm fine," she sighed. She wanted to look away when she talked, but found that her eyes had no choice but to look into his.

"I just. . ."

She opted to close her eyes. Shikamaru's eyes were too intense.

"Can we slow down?" she asked.

His face softened and he sighed, resting his hand on the wall beside of Ino's waist.

"If that's what you want," he said. "I'm not trying to make you do anything, Ino."

"Oh, I know."

She wetted her lips, and her eyes fluttered open.

"I just got a little scared," she admitted.

Maybe it had been silly to say that, she thought suddenly. She had been more than willing to let Shikamaru pop open her pants and top when the two of them were in the train. But again, she had been too caught up to think back then. Now she seemed to be in her right mind, and knew for sure that she wasn't going to come across as easy, no matter how much she wanted to throw her legs around him and knock him to the ground.

"Don't take any of that the wrong way," he said, and ran a knuckle across her cheek. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course," she said instantly.

Nodding, Shikamaru bent down and almost kissed her lips, but seemed to change his mind and instead kissed her cheek.

"You look exhausted," he said.

"You do too."

His hand came to rest on Ino's hip, the other still pressed against the wall. He studied her for a second before hooking his thumb through the band of her shorts.

"Let's go to sleep then," he said, smiling kindly. "C'mon."

The bed suddenly seemed far away as Ino walked over with Shikamaru. Why this should upset her was a mystery, seeing as she and Shikamaru had slept together on in the train. Maybe it was because now the two of them weren't just trying to keep warm.

Shikamaru was the first to sit down. He looked up at Ino's nervous face, then reached out and pulled her down with an amused look.

"Hey," he said as they both got comfortable, "stop looking scared." She laughed and smiled, but he could see that she was still feeling shy and awkward, so he propped up on his forearm and said: "Look, I don't have to sleep in here if you don't want. I just wasn't sure if it would bother you or not."

"No."

She cursed herself for how panicked she had sounded and paused to make sure she could trust her voice.

"No," she said. "I want you to stay."

He nodded and laid back, again using his arm instead of the pillow. He suddenly looked thoughtful.

"What?" Ino asked, lying down.

"Well, I was just thinking," he said, with his usual pout. "Do we tell Choji about this, or do we let him figure it out?

"What do you want to do?"

She flipped onto her stomach.

Shikamaru didn't say anything at first. Even when she had stilled, his eyes remained on her face, neck, and then her back. He placed his hand on the small of her back, running his fingers along her prickled flesh.

"I think we'll just let him figure it out. Shouldn't take him long," he said.

Ino agreed. Her head felt hazy. And as Shikamaru's hand continued massaging, Ino could feel the heat built in her chest. She heard herself whimper. It shocked her at first, and she was glad Shikamaru hadn't heard her. Really, she was very unused to this. Was he? That was something she would have to ask him about. She tried trailing her thoughts away from the direction they were going. It didn't work. She wished Shikamaru would stop rubbing her back.

No she didn't.

Swallowing, Ino tucked her hands under the pillow, relishing from the cold underneath. It helped cool her off, but the affect didn't last long. Shikamaru's hand traced near her side. A pang shot through Ino's privates. She whispered and tried to think of something else. But the ache wouldn't leave. It worsened. Aware that Shikamaru had gotten her wet, she closed her eyes. Wiggling, Ino bit her lip. The movement only made the ache flare.

Shikamaru's left eye opened, and he arched a brow. Ino's breathing labored.

"Oi, Ino," he started, his voice surprising low and husky. "You okay?"

Her stared at the pillow, searching for the right words.

"I'm fine." She gave a small laugh. "I just. . .um—"

"Yeah," he said with a smirk. "I could help you with that, you know."

At this, she froze, air caught in her throat, and a red blush running across her nose. His words weren't anything that she was used to hearing, much less him, and, oh, she bet he could help her. But no, she wasn't ready. Or was she. Ino felt confused.

When Shikamaru's hand rested on her hip, Ino gulped. It was clear that he wasn't going to do anything until she said to because he was watching her, waiting. Finally, Ino got up enough nerve and sat up. She touched his forearm and bit her lip. He moved his arm and sat up beside her.

"Shikamaru," she paused. "I've never. . .I mean, this isn't something I'm used to."

He looked down at her hand. She clenched the covers around her chest.

"Yeah, I figured that, Ino. And anyway, you're not the only one."

Watching his eyes, Ino sighed.

"I wouldn't know the first thing about—"

"So I'll be your guinea pig," he shrugged. "It doesn't matter. But, we don't have to do anything."

--

**Important!**

There is more to this chapter, but I have cut it out because it's a sex scene. I'll post it up on my homepage by tomorrow and link it with a place holding chapter (even if it does go against TOS). By on the look out when you get an update alert.


	11. Chapter Eleven

You know the signal, type in the link, remove the spaces, and read the smut. BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE OF AGE.

I only ask that you come back and comment this place holding chapter. Please please please. It will only take a minute!

**http : / / mindpoisons . googlepages . com / meltme**

Click on Chapter 11.

With love, Perfumey.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"What makes us uncomfortable?" Shikamaru asked.

He and Ino made their way through the archway behind Kakashi's chair.

Turning around, Kakashi looked caught off guard.

"Oh, nothing," he said with the wave of his hand.

Shikamaru figured that Kakashi had been preaching to Naruto. He hoped his friend would listen to Kakashi.

Shikamaru looked over to Ino. She yawned and stepped in front of him. Turning his attention down to his pocket, he fished out the half empty pack of cigarettes and knocked one out of the box. Ino looked over her shoulder. Shikamaru guessed that she had a reason to scowl, seeing as this was his third cigarette this morning.

Pinching it between his lips, Shikamaru felt around for his silver lighter. His brow knitted. Glancing up, Shikamaru caught the sly look on Ino's face. It slowly came back to him that Ino had acted out of character before they left the room; it was unlike her to grab someone's butt, and he doubted that having sex had changed that. So she had stolen his lighter.

"Tch."

He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and dropped it into his pocket.

"That's not fair, Ino," he said.

"I'll tell you what's not _fair_," Ino said, tossing the lighter back and forth in her hands as she turned to face him. "What's not fair is me having to breathe in all of that smoke. You're smart, Shikamaru. You _must_ know that second hand smoke is even worse than sucking on that thing yourself?"

"So don't breath in my air."

"Don't breath in your—" she huffed and stuffed the lighter into her pocket. "Honestly, I should think someone with your sense would know better."

"Guess I don't."

-

-

-

The cave was far smaller than Shikamaru would have liked, but he chose to deal with it. At least everyone in the groups managed to fit, having to lie back to back. That part wouldn't have bothered him so much if he hadn't become stuck with a man who continued to pass gas and chuckle at Shikamaru's annoyance and disgust. He couldn't stand the man. Plus, he disliked that Ino was out of view. Whatever. He decided that if he made it through this night, he would have a whole new view on life. Unlikely, but in his dangerous state of nearly strangling his sleeping buddy, Shikamaru saw it as possible. He had to restrain himself from rolling over and bashing the older man's head in as a round of coughs and burps erupted from behind.

"_Man_," he grumbled. "Shut the hell up would you?"

"Well, look who's a snob. You got a problem, boy?"

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

Shikamaru knitted his brow and kept his eyes tightly shut. It was impossible to sleep through any of this. Even the cold wasn't the worst of it. And so, once the snores began, Shikamaru decided that he needed air. It was stuffy. And the air inside the cave rank.

Making his way out of the cave and out into the light of the full moon, Shikamaru took a deep breath and let it out heavily. He crossed his arms and leaned against the cave. He looked up at the moon. The stars shone bright. Shikamaru liked leaving the city for somewhere with fewer lights; with no lights, everything was better during the night.

"It's beautiful, huh?"

He didn't jump in surprise, having heard someone coming up behind him before Ino spoke.

"Yep."

He turned his head to the side and looked at her as she stepped out of the cavern entrance. He'd seen her in moonlight before, of course, but he found it oddly different to look at her since the previous night.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

Ino crossed her arms and rubbed them.

"Hm?" She looked away from the moon, lost in thought. "Oh," she said in that same second, "I couldn't fall asleep being cramped up like that. What about you?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes with a blank face, and Ino laughed.

"Sorry I asked."

Shikamaru yawned and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The temperature hadn't dropped as much as he had first suspected. In fact, Shikamaru found it to be only slightly colder the day. Which reminded him.

"You still cold?" he asked Ino, keeping his gaze tilted up at the moon as he leaned on the rock.

"Of course," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. There was a pause as she looked over at him. "Why?"

"Come here."

She smiled slightly and walked over. Stepping beside of him, Ino waited.

Looking away from the moon, Shikamaru studied Ino with a calm face. A soft smirk built up.

"No wonder. Look at what you're wearing," he said.

She huffed. But then, Ino gave a surprised 'oh' as Shikamaru reached out and pulled her against him, her chin against his collar. She lost tenseness seconds later and flattened her palms against his chest, closing her eyes. She tuned relaxed when Shikamaru's arms wrapped around her waist. Shikamaru leaned back against the cave and looked up at the stars.

"Shikamaru?" Ino began. "I was just wondering. . .you do still respect me, right?"

He knitted his brow together.

"What? Well _duh_, Ino."

He paused for a second, then asked in a less sardonic tone: "Why would you think that I wouldn't? It's me your dealing with, not some asshole."

"Then. . ." She bit her lip and arched an accusing brow at his chest. ". . .why are you gripping my butt?"

"Well," he chuckled. "Maybe I thought you wouldn't notice?"

She smiled and snuggled into him.

"Pervert."

"Yeah, maybe," he said, his voice muffled into her hair. "But at least I got my lighter back."

Ino gasped as Shikamaru released her and dangled his lighter before her nose.

**-**

**-**

**-**

"Whoa! Guess you were glad to get out of there! There's no way I could have helped you out, Ino," Choji joked, slurping his noodles. "I would have gone _nuts_ if I had to live on that stuff!"

Shifting herself in the booth, Ino laughed and took another sip of her drink.

The group had been back in Konoha for nearly five days, and this was the first she and Shikamaru had talked with Choji, who had been away. It was nearly five o'clock in the evening now, she noted as she glanced to the clock behind Shikamaru's head. She had promised to help Shikamaru with his new apartment today. Well, she had not so much promised to help him than she had insisted on coming over and forcing him to finish fixing the place up from the move. Honestly, only he would leave everything packed up out of sheer laziness. The only room that was set was his bedroom, and that, he had told her, was because it was far too troublesome digging through all of his boxes to find certain items of clothing and whatnot.

He was such a slacker, she mused. What had made her fall for a guy like him? Things sure did have an odd way of turning out. She could still remember the day when they first were placed together in Team Ten. She had been so distraught then, but now, she wouldn't change a thing.

Choji suddenly gave her an absurd look and sat his chopsticks down.

"Uh, Ino," he said, "are you playing _footsy_ with me?"

Shikamaru coughed, chocking on his food. He went for his drink, laughing and coughing at Ino's red face.

"Shut _up_, Shikamaru!" Ino flared, trying to get control.

Choji shook his head and looked between his two friends. Choji wasn't stupid; he knew she had meant that for his buddy.

"Is there something you guys wanna tell me?"

The corner of Shikamaru's mouth was up in a half smile as he took another drink, looking over the brim at Ino. He sat the empty glass down and cleared his throat.

"Well, Choji," he began, "the thing is. . ."

* * *

**A/N:** Lulz, I figure I'll leave a small note letting everyone know that this is a REWRITE of MY story. I wasn't going to even mention it because I didn't figure it was needed. However, I received a few PM's and a review that were concerned that I am a plagiarist.

Lulz.

I don't mean to laugh.

But now you know--IT'S MINE. I USED TO BE DRIP DRY. I CHANGED MY USERNAME- so don't fret.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

When Shikamaru had finished telling Choji about his and Ino's new relationship, Choji had looked slightly taken back. When Ino asked Choji why he wasn't more surprised, explained that he had always known Shikamaru had a thing for Ino, and vise-versa. It was obvious, he'd said. The two of them didn't know why Choji had seen it and they hadn't.

Waving to Choji over his shoulder with one hand, Shikamaru walked along side Ino as they headed over to his apartment. It was now six o'clock.

"Ino," Shikamaru began, looking at her from the corner of his eye, "what time do I have to get you home?"

"Daddy doesn't really give me a curfew."

She pushed her long bangs away from her eyes.

"Speaking of daddy," she said after a few minutes, "when should we let our parents know about us?"

Let the parents know that they were seeing each other? It didn't settle well with Shikamaru. Sure, _his_ father wouldn't mind. He'd probably be fine with it, but Ino's father was a different story; Shikamaru wasn't sure _how_ Inoichi would react to. Sex wouldn't be mentioned, but parents are no fools. So yes, it was correct to say that Shikamaru had been hoping to never tell any of the parents, though he had known he and Ino needed to. Needing to and actually saying something were two different things.

"Well," he began, "we don't have to do that right away."

"Are you scared?" Ino teased, nudging him with her elbow.

He frowned at her. Swiftly, he grabbed her arm, causing her to squeal and fly against his chest in a fit of giggles.

"No, of course I'm not," he said, smiling.

He squeezed her sides, causing her to jerk and try to free herself. The two of them stood in the middle of the street.

"Stop it, you jerk!" Ino said through a laugh.

Pounding a fist on his chest, Ino finally freed herself. She took a few breaths and crossed her arms, looking into Shikamaru's. Chewing the inside of her lip and rolling her eyes, Ino said, "I'm not disagreeing with you though. I'd rather wait a while too. But sooner or later we'll have to come out with it. Speaking of procrastination," she continued, "we should hurry up and get to your place. Those boxes aren't just going to unpack themselves, no matter how much I know you wish they would."

"I don't see why you're making it your mission to clean the place," he retorted, his face returning to its bored expression and loosing the hint of lust.

"Well, we don't have anything better to do."

He thought whether or not to open his mouth.

"Have it your way," he said dismissively as they began to walk.

It didn't take them long to get to Shikamaru's one bedroom apartment. Bending down to pick up the delivery box laying halfway off the doorstep, Shikamaru dug through his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Standing back to his feet, he tossed Ino the keys while he looked over the package. He could hear her popping the door open just about the same time he noted that they had delivered the package to him by mistake.

"I'll be back in a minute, Ino," he said, sticking his head into the doorway and then turning. She called something back, but he wasn't listening.

After dropping the package in front of the correct apartment, Shikamaru headed back to his own, only to realize Ino was leaning on the door frame, looking at him with an amused smirk. He felt a tug at his lip.

"What?"

"Why is everything already put away?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh, guess I _forgot_ to tell you that my mom forced me to do this yesterday."

He stepped in front of her and looked her over. He said, "So I guess we'll have to find something else to do."

-

-

-

Ino's heart skipped a beat when Shikamaru stepped in and shut the door behind him. She didn't know why being in this situation made her nervous. Perhaps it was because the two of them hadn't been intimate since the night at the hotel. Things had just been so hectic around Konoha that no one had had the time to sit back and relax. It wasn't that she didn't want him again because that's all she seemed to think about. She even dreamed about it. She wondered if it was the same for him, and figured that she had her answer by the look in his eyes as he stepped closer to her and cupped her blushing cheek.

"Oi, Ino, what's wrong?" he asked with a hint of a smile, running his thumb over her moist bottom lip.

Ino ignored the obvious tease and reached up with one hand to hold onto Shikamaru's wrist.

"Shika," she said, suddenly feeling suffocated. Before she could finish, Shikamaru crushed her against him and mashed their lips. All of this was done before Ino had the time to blink. When Shikamaru pulled back from the kiss, Ino studied his eyes. She licked her lips, still damp from his. His eyes, she noticed, were watching her do this. She chuckled.

"So is this _all_ you think about now, Shikamaru?"

"Huh?"

He looked caught off guard.

"No, and I'm offended that you would think it," he finally answered, resting his hand on the crook of her neck. "But it's somewhat hard not to when the last time was so good, Ino."

Well, her little game plan had just been thrown back in her face, Ino realized with a sudden burst of heat rushing through her. Damn him. Why did he have to say it like that? She knew he must have picked up on her racing heart. And indeed he had, and decided to take advantage of it. Swooping a startled Ino up around his waist, her legs wrapped around him, he balanced her, holding her up from her rear. Managing to get to the bedroom without tripping over the hideous deer rug, Shikamaru held her up with one arm—her's wrapped around his neck—and reached down with the other to open the bedroom door.

As Shikamaru walked into the room, leaving the door open, Ino looked over his shoulder. He wasn't much for decorating, but then, he _was_ Shikamaru. Far too much of a pain to bother with that type of useless thing, she could almost hear him saying.

Forgetting about the room for now, Ino bent her head down and kissed Shikamaru's shoulder. His grip on her bottom tightened, and Ino wondered what he was planning next. She quickly got her answer when she went sailing down onto the bed. Blinking up at him, she frowned.

"Geeze, just throw me why don't you," she said sarcastically, propping up on her forearms a little, so that she could look up at him at the foot of his bed.

He looked down at her with a smirk. Crawling up and hovering against her, nearly nose to nose, Shikamaru nipped at her lip.

"I doubt you'll break, Ino."

Ino didn't miss the reference behind his murmur of a remark. She opened her mouth to say something, but was once more interrupted by his. Smiling into the kiss, Ino decided to let Shikamaru's comment slide. She ran her hand up his arm and shoulder, the other still balancing her, slightly lifted.

Shikamaru's kisses became persistent; his lips pressed into hers with need; his tongue explored the inside of her mouth.

Pulling back to take a breath, Ino looked at him with lidded, lustrous blue eyes. Her arms tightened around him as she fell back and gripped the back of Shikamaru's neck. She pulled his mouth back against hers, and returned his kisses with equal fervor. For several minutes that's all they did: hold and kiss each other, until there wasn't an area of the other's mouth that hadn't been explored. Then, Shikamaru drew his lips away and began covering Ino's neck with smaller, sharper, more insistent kisses. Ino tipped her head back, allowing him better access. She ran her fingers through his hair. He had it wrapped up in an elastic band as usual, and Ino hated the hair band, wanted to run her hands through his hair like last time. Gently tugging at the elastic, Ino managed to slide it off, freeing the mane of soft spikes.

His hands became bolder, running over Ino's stomach, then up further along her breasts. Since she wasn't wearing a bra, the only thing separating Shikamaru's heated fingers from her skin was a thin layer of cotton, which created a slight friction which, oddly enough, was incredibly arousing.

Shikamaru didn't seem in any big hurry to get Ino naked, a big difference from the last time. Still, since Ino had committed herself to this, she was eager to experience it to its fullest. So she tugged his shirt out from his pants and worked her hand under it, stroking his toned stomach and making her way to his chest. She ran her fingers over his nipples. Shikamaru got the hint and drew away from her. With an expression that was equal parts in excitement and introversion, he started rolling Ino's shirt off her stomach. She raised her arms so that he could get it over her head. Once the purple shirt was off, Ino bit her lip and did the same for him. As she had done, Shikamaru sat back a bit, allowing her to sit up with him, and raised his arms to help the process, which took double the time because of his netted undershirt. Once they were both shirtless, Ino continued to chew her lip and look at him.

She had traced over every muscle and indentation of his stomach and chest that night at the hotel. She had drilled every scar, groove, and muscle into her metal image. She thought she could draw him and best any art piece in Konoha's gallery.

Regarding her with a hint of amusement in his eyes, Shikamaru tilted her chin up and lightly kissed her bottom lip, then making his way down to the crook of her neck. He grunted when her hand trailed down his bare side and came to rest on the hem of his pants. Ino moaned, as one of his hands started moving over her breasts. The ball of his thumb rolled over one of her nipples until it was teased into a hardened peak. Shikamaru smirked against Ino's cheek. Her grip to his pants-hem tightened. Shikamaru moved on to Ino's other breast. This process was continued until Ino began panting. Ino pulled Shikamaru's hand away. She began reciting that she couldn't take any more. Shikamaru nodded and began kissing her neck.

When they drew apart yet again, he rose from the bed. For a moment, Ino was afraid (and confused), thinking that he was going to leave, but instead, he began unzipping his pants and started peeling them off.

"I. . .I can't figure a way to do this without it being awkward," he confessed, keeping his gaze downcast.

"Says the genius who can configure two hundred moves ahead of his opponent," Ino teased with a wink, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

She stood and took off her skirt. Before she could finish, however, Shikamaru came over and wrapped his arms around her. As he pulled her close, his mouth sought out hers and he kissed her again. Longer and sweeter this time.

Ino had spent a fair bit of time kissing Shikamaru these past five days, when they managed to find the time to eat dinner or go to the training ground, and she always believed he was pretty good at it, but now he had turned the mere act of blending lips into an almost religious experience. She knew that sounded like a really lame thing to say, but that's the best way she had to describe it. His kisses could be urgent without becoming desperate or sweet without becoming chaste. When he kissed her, Ino felt like she was the only woman that mattered. She felt completely and utterly feminine.

His kissing was so good that she never noticed when his hand moved between them and finished working off her bottoms. Until they were sliding off her hips. Even then, Ino didn't stop the kissing. She simply stepped out of the purple matching skirt and pushed it away with her bare foot.

Somehow, the two of them ended up on the bed. Later, Ino was not sure if they had first sat, then lain down, or if they had just fallen onto the bed. It just seemed like one minute the two were standing, and the next, they were lying on the bed together.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

"You're pretty good at this," Ino admitted.

Shikamaru's cheeks turned faintly pink.

"You're pretty fantastic yourself."

Ino resisted the urge to pipe up with a retort. Instead, she snuggled closer and kissed his neck.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Anything."

She really believed he meant that. However, just because he didn't care what she asked him didn't mean the thing Ino had in mind was easy to ask.

"Uh, well, maybe it isn't that much of a question," she began, feeling her face flush. She wished she hadn't brought it up, knowing it might seem foolish.

"Just come out and say it, Ino," he suggested, obviously catching on that this was embarrassing her. "C'mon, we just had sex. It seems a little odd to play shy now." He waited while her brain puzzled this one out. After a bit, he tightened his arm around her. "Are you going to tell me?"

Ino shrugged.

"It-it really doesn't matter, but. . ."

Suddenly, she didn't want to ask Shikamaru her so called question, or make the statement. She didn't want to know how he felt about what she had to say, or if he returned the same feeling. Well, she did, but suddenly found it far too hard to ask. However, Ino also knew that Shikamaru wasn't going to let this go—just like he never let anything go— so she quickly thought of something else.

"Uh, are you one of those guys that figures once is fine, or can I possibly get the motor going again?" She added a cute giggle near the end, feeling silly for that question.

He laughed.

"With the right persuasion, I could be good for at least once more, maybe even twice." There was a pause as he ran a hand through her hair. "Why do I get the feeling that you're an excellent persuader?" Shikamaru remarked with a smirk.

"Because I am," Ino said as her hands started wandering over him.

Another round or two seemed like a good idea, anyway, and her switch of the subject had worked; Shikamaru believed that was her original question. It wasn't. Her original intension had been "How do you really feel about me?" While part of her was still curious about the big word coming from their mouths, another part of Ino was afraid that Shikamaru wouldn't know how to answer. That he'd get embarrassed, telling her that it was far too early for things like that.

If she never got an answer, she thought, slowly kissing up his neck, then she could pretend for the rest of her life he loved her.

THE END

* * *

**A/N:** Now, I plan to re-continue the sequel, "Pink Slumber."

It won't be continued right away, but soon. What's already posted will be CHANGING; therefore, there is no use in reading what's posted now. Wait a while and you'll get it. School starts soon, so I'm not sure how fast it will be posted and updated. But I WILL finish it.


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